Through the eyes of a Serpent
by Doragonkage
Summary: Something happened on Harry's second year, something that no one could foresee... This is a little tale of mine with a theme of "What if" I do hope that you enjoy. Like anything I write, this will be about "slash", oh how I despise the use of that word. In anyway, this will eventually go to being a Harem fic with a dominant Harry, more or less ;)
1. Unexpected Changes

The days following the visit into the Chamber of Secrets were spent in the tender care of Madam Pomfrey, something that both frustrated and comforted Harry. While only the piercing wound from the Basilisk fang was of serious importance, and rather easily healed, the matron had insisted upon keeping Harry confined for a day or two longer than was necessary, just to be on the safe side.

Upon his release, with a clean bill of health, Harry found the entirety of Gryffindor gathered up about the common-room. The moment that Harry set foot in the gathered masses burst into wild cheers and congratulations for surviving the Basilisk and saving Ginny from certain death. Those who knew any better also made a note to congratulate Harry for thwarting Voldemort's attempts at resurrecting himself, yet again.

From then on life at Hogwarts slowly, but surely returned back to normal. The students still talked about the recent events, but beyond that there was very little commotion regarding the incident.

After a week from the encounter Harry found himself feeling feverish, not enough to warrant a visit to the medical wing, but certainly enough to cause slight discomfort through the day. Brushing aside Hermione's odd looks whenever Harry would swipe at his brow to clean away the sweat, telling her that he was just wearing too much clothing and would lighten them once they got out of class.

Wearing less and less clothing, until he wore only what was necessary with his uniform, with the exception of the tiniest things, like socks for example, the ravenette stopped wearing them, at least his feet didn't feel like they were burning off afterwards. His tie held loose and the top most buttons always held open on his shirt to let air free reign, and whenever Harry could get away with it, he would untuck his shirt to increase the cooling wafts of air tenfold, anything in the name of comfort.

After suffering through the personal heat-wave for a week, Harry woke-up one morning to the infernal itching of the Basilisk wound. The whole area was red and hot, and more Harry scratched it, the more intense the feeling became, to a point where Harry had no other option, but to get dressed and head out to the medical wing.

It wasn't until Harry had gotten down the stairs and well on his way along the hallway ad was caught by a prefect on patrol, that Harry cursed himself for forgetting his cloak in the dorms.

"What are you doing out past curfew?" Robert, a Ravenclaw prefect, inquired from the wayward student while giving him a stern look, although given his slightly inflated facial features it looked more like a squint that bordered on being painful.

"I was just on my way to see Madam Pomfrey, I can't sleep with this." Harry replied quickly, tugging up the sleeve of his robes and shirt to reveal the irritated wound, which now had a few droplets of blood welling up where Harry's nails had caught the skin.

"Alright the Mister Potter, follow me." Robert said with a nod right before he turned to walk along the hallway, escorting Harry along, lest he meet another prefect who would feel less inclined to take the boy to see Pomfrey than take points while sending the boy back to his dorm.

The walk over to the medical wing was filled with silence, Robert only speaking when it was to tell Harry to stop scratching at the itching wound, less it become even more irritated. When they arrived to the medical wing Robert told Harry to wait by the door while he went inside, leaving the door open.

After a short while Robert walked out again with a tired-looking Poppy tagging along, tugging on her robes tighter against her form.

"Come on in Harry, let's see about that wound." Poppy said calmly, although tiredly while gesturing for Harry to get in. Shutting the door behind Harry and walking in after him, guiding him along to an empty bed.

Taking Harry's arm in both of hers Poppy looked it over, hmm'ing in thought every now and again. After a while she set the arm down and took her wand, running it over the area while performing the basic scans for infection and such, and when those tests revealed the presence of an infection, or at the very least something akin to it, the medi-witch went for her potions cabinet and fetched a sickly purple-colored jar, setting it upon the nightstand next to the bed that Harry was on.

"Go wash that area and rub this ointment onto it, preferably a bit over the red edges of the area, it should take care of the itching and help the wound to heal properly." Poppy said with a nod, wondering exactly how the wound had managed to become infected, it might be the lingering traces of Basilisk venom, or a reaction to the tears, who knows, it was certainly surprising.

"And lastly, you should get some rest, so feel free to take that bed for tonight, but make sure to wake-up in time to get changed and ready for school in the morning." The matron said while turning to leave,trusting in Harry's capability to see to following the instructions that she had given.

Harry nodded and watched the matrons retreating back. Removing his topmost layer of clothing, leaving himself in a pair of pants. Walking over to the nearby mirror, one that had a pitcher full of water and a bowl beneath it, both which Harry promptly used before glancing into the mirror. What he saw was enough to have the teen reeling back, a frown forming on his face.

Over his right shoulder there was a blotch of darker skin, almost like a bruise which covered the entire shoulder all the way down to the elbow, likewise on his chest there was some discoloring, this one slightly more on the red, and upon touch it felt warm, much like his wound did. Daring to turn his back onto the mirror and glancing over his shoulder, Harry felt himself filling with worry.

Both of his shoulder-blades held red lines that webbed along the length of the boys back, pooling mostly at the shoulder blades, but since they weren't exactly painful or anything like it, just disturbing. Looking himself over once more Harry decided not to bother the patient matron with his new discoveries, not until morning came, if they were still present by then.

With a plan of action firmly set the boy went about washing his wound, as well as the blotches on his shoulder and chest before rubbing the ointment onto them, feeling it was better to be safe than sorry.With his tasks done, Harry climbed back into bed and just flopped over the covers, feeling far too warm to tuck himself in. Moving his arms above his head and stretching out Harry let out a soft yawn before settling down to sleep.

When morning came, a few hours later, Harry found himself feeling rested and ready. Opting to lounge on the bed for a few more moments before swinging his legs over the edge, leaning forward a bit and putting his weight against his arms, which he braced against the bed.

Sliding off of the bed in order to turn around and make it, setting the pillows back and smoothing the cover over it before venturing over to the mirror to look at himself over. The odd discolorations upon his shoulders, as well as the Basilisk wound, were all gone, leaving behind the pale flesh that usually was. Sighing in relief Harry went to wash his face before tossing on his clothes so he could go and have breakfast.

Just as Harry was about to open the door to the hallway, he was stopped by someone saying his name in a tone that left no room for argument. Turning around Harry found the Matron standing at the door to her offices, hands on her hips and a stern look in her eyes, while a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Not attempting to sneak out before I have a look at you now, are you Mr. Potter?" Poppy mused from where she stood, motioning for Harry to come on over.

Harry merely made a face at being caught, flashing the matron a small grin while making his way over. While he walked Harry rolled up the sleeve and lift his arm up to be examined. Poppy took a firm hold of Harry's wrist and leaned in to have a closer look, hmm'ing thoughtfully before straightening again and drawing her wand out, flicking it once before running the tip over the wound, watching the colors and flashes carefully.

"Well, there appears to be nothing wrong anymore, but just to be on the safe side, come back and see me after classes, just in case." Poppy said with a nod. Letting go of Harry's arm so the boy could fix his clothing back.

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey, and sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night." Harry said while putting his sleeve back properly, buttoning it up before smoothing over it, looking over to the matron.

"It's quite alright Mr. Potter, you were lucky that I was spending the night here to keep an eye on someone, but you best be off now, can't study with an empty stomach." Poppy smiled and motioned for Harry to leave before turning to go and check on whomever it was that she had been keeping an eye on.

Harry nodded briskly and turned, leaving post-haste, running all the way over to the Gryffindor tower to fetch his satchel and books, startling one of the many ghosts of Hogwarts by running right through her. Calling back his apologies, Harry kept on going until he got to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

Just as he was about to say the password, the portrait swung open and a group of fourth year Gryffindors filed out. Taking his opportunity to hop right in after the last one to exit, grinning like a loon for having (duped) the portrait in such a clever fashion, only for his grin to falter and a look of surprise to take over his features when he was confronted by his two friends.

"Merlin's beard Harry, where have you been?" Ron all, but yelled from the bottom of the stairs leading up to the boys dormitory.

"We've been looking for you for almost half an hour, and were about to go tell professor McGonagall." Hermione informed, fixing Harry with a worried look.

"Eh? I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep so I went for a walk." Harry lied, doubting that either of his friends believed him, but what with time running out on getting something to eat and getting to class on time, they seemed to take the explanation for now.

"I'll go grab my things and I'll meet you in the Great Hall." Harry said hastily just before he sprinted off again to rush and get the items he'd come here for originally.

When Harry grabbed hold of the strap of his bag with his right hand and tried to lift it, a sharp, burning pain flared on the arm, right over the wound. Letting go of the bag with a curse under his breath, Harry reached his left hand over and grabbed the aching spot, squeezing it firmly. The pain that radiated off of the spot was nearly enough to bring Harry on his knees, but he endured, gritting his teeth until the pain went away.

Opting to use his left arm instead, Harry hefted his bag up and flung it over his shoulder. Rubbing his right arm with his left hand Harry made his way downstairs again and through the portrait, only to find Hermione and Ron waiting for him there, obviously not satisfied with what they got earlier, and wanting Harry's company along the way.

The trio went down for breakfast, idly chatting about their studies, when it became apparent that Harry wasn't going to just change his story about what he had been up to in the earlier hours of the morning.

From then on the next week went on without much of a hitch, although Harry should of probably paid more attention to himself and the odd sensations he felt, instead of brushing them off as nerves over tests and getting all the homework assignments done. There had been stomach cramps, nothing serious, just enough to distract from his duties momentarily, ontop of that he'd had moments of complete and utmost loss of thought and a hint of itching, especially on the top of the teens head, but as fate would have it he ignored them due to their fleeting nature.

It wasn't until the last week of school, now three weeks after the incident in the Chamber of Secrets that Harry took a dive for worse as far as his condition went.

It was a class on Charms with Professor Flitwick, half-way through the day when Harry suddenly felt dizzy, enough so to warrant grabbing his desk to stabilize himself. The world spun in Harry's eyes, while his body felt drained of all resources, his only focus being on his hands to keep them clutching onto the edge of the table.

Breathing shallow and unevenly Harry stood up abruptly, sparing the confused professor and classmates no mind. "Got to...go to the infirmary...something's...wrong..." Harry whispered out groggily before taking a step to stand aside, planting his left hand against the wall that had been behind him, not waiting for permission to be excused.

The sharp turn to head off towards the door was cut short by Harry's foot losing all feeling all of a sudden. When Harry planted his foot on the ground and put his weight on it to take the other, instead of going forward the hasty teen was sent face-first towards the ground. In an effort to save himself from plummeting down Harry flexed his fingers against the wall he had been leaning against for support, as well as the back of Hermione's chair, seeing how she had been sitting to Harry's left during class.

While Harry's thought process was sound enough, the execution of his fail-safe failed miserably in it's stead. Merely holding his hands flat against any surface that would offer friction, his hands did nothing to hinder Harry's fall. Amidst the chaos of the moment there was a sound, the faint sound of something thin ripping, and in Harry's mind he though that he'd caught his sleeve on something and now torn it, it'd make his great month even better, it would.

What Harry failed to see were the strips of skin left behind fluttering onto the floor along the wall and off the back of Hermione's chair.

When Harry fell, it was Hermione and Ron who rushed to their friends aid, neither noticing the slivers of skin on the floor as they went to help Harry up, who ended up sprawled on the floor, much to the everlasting entertainment of the Slytherin's sitting across from the Gryffindor's on the other side of the classroom.

"Harry are you alright..." Hermione inquired while grabbing hold of Harry's left arm.

"C'mon, we'll take you to the infirmary." Said Ron from the right as he grabbed hold of Harry's right arm.

It was then that Neville had managed to come over, to see if he could help as well, having sat next to Harry on his left, that the Longbottom heir noticed something on the ground.

"What's this..." Neville said aloud as he grouched down to pick-up the dry patch of skin, lifting it up to see.

Meanwhile Professor Flitwick had silenced the Slytherin's and sent them on their way, as well as most of the Gryffindors, and had waded his way over to the troubled younglings. Said boy who was on his hands and knees by now, trembling all over and panting heavily.

"Mr. Thomas if you would kindly fetch Madam Pomfrey here, with as much haste as you can muster, tell her it's urgent." Flitwick said while still keeping his eyes on the pained youth.

Ron and Hermione, still knelt or grouched on the ground beside Harry glanced over to what Neville was holding up. Ron blinking like an owl at it, while Hermione knit her brows in worry and leaned in closer to Harry, both to make sure that Harry heard, but to see if there was any blood to indicate that the patch of skin fell off of Harry.

"Did you hurt yourself when you fell Harry." Hermione inquired calmly, nodding slightly when Harry replied to her with only a shake of his head.

"Tore...my sleeve..." Harry managed to breathe out in between labored breaths.

"Doesn't look like it, now let's get you up." Hermione instructed, moving to hold Harry's forearm on her side while Ron did the same to the other.

"Is something burning?..." Ron suddenly piped up, sniffing the air.

"Yeah, Harry is." Neville pointed out, using his index finger to point at Harry's back.

Tiny tendrils of smoke were slowly beginning to seep through the fabric, steadily growing more and more intense by the second. Meanwhile every muscle on Harry's body was pulled taut causing the teen to slip from his friends grasp and back on the floor. Whining and squirming on the floor while the smoking became more and more prominent at his back.

"Alright everybody out of the classroom, NOW!." Professor Flitwick ordered, shutting down all arguments with a threat of deducting house points for disobedience.

When the last of the students had exited the classroom, most of them lingering by the door and peeking in to wtach the professor approaching Harry, wand in hand. Standing two feet away from the writhing lad the Professor lift his wand and flicked it in a complex series of gestures and mumbled something, a spell to soothe the mind woven into a spell to alleviate the pain that Harry was feeling, but for all his experience the professor could not foresee what happened next.

The moment the spell was done and the magic rushed out towards it's target there was a loud whooshing sound as bright red flames burst out from Harry's back and they clashed with Flitwick's magic. The resulting boom from the clash was enough to shake the entire classroom and shatter the windows. Before Flitwick could properly gather himself from the previous clash the flames moved, surging towards the Professor, smashing harshly against the hastily injured barrier the man had managed to pull to protect himself.

Landing into the group of students Professor Flitwick could only look dumbfounded into the room that was slowly being engulfed in flames, with a lone figure in the middle of them struggling to get up. Yet the moment the boy lift his head, it became clear, to all who were watching, that Harry,a s they knew him, was no longer, if at all.

Glowing green eyes gazed from beneath sweaty hair, the pupils narrowed to mere slits and the look within them promised pain and suffering. The scar on Harry's forehead glowed bright red, the skin around it slowly disintegrating and revealing something black beneath the pale flesh, what it was was impossible to tell what with the flames flicking this way and that, seemingly out of control.

The look on Harry's face was one of madness most primal, instincts claimed what reason failed to control as the glow within those bright eyes intensified slowly but surely the stronger the magical presence that radiated off of Harry became. Before a sort of a zenith could be reached, Harry's hands shot up and covered his eyes, fingers curling to dig newly formed claws to his own forehead as a sharp, long shriek was let out, one similar to that of the cry of a bird.

Stumbling and struggling Harry managed to trip over a desk, tumbling over it and landing smack flat on the ground, seemingly ignoring the ache from that in favor of whatever it was that was causing all of these changes.

After a while of tumbling on the ground there was a low hissing growl to be heard and Harry's left hand tore itself off from covering his eyes, landing flat on the floor, the single revealed eye looking towards the doorway with the same amount of malice as it had before and with a flick of the boys hand the flames surged again, rushing towards the open door.

Professor Flitwick moved as quick as he could in flicking and swishing his wand, shutting the doors before the flames could reach them. Conjuring up a few smaller wards to secure the door and make it resistant of the magical fire that raged within his classroom. With that done he turned to the students and ushered them away before conjuring his patronus, a majestic eagle that hovered nearby while the Professor told it to go and find the Headmaster and bring him over.

After a moment of silence there was a loud bang against the door, one forceful enough to make the entire thin jump on it's hinges, the wards flashing brightly, the sight escorted by a sound of glass cracking. Quickly Professor Flitwick swung his wand and pointed it at the door, murmuring an incantation of protection to better protect the door from the force raging behind it.

Another smash of raw force against the door shattered the wards, even the one currently being empowered by the charms professor. The old man stumbled back and quickly swung his wand again to re-seal the door, only hoping to contain what was behind it. Imagine the old man's surprise when wands were lift and pointed at the door, said wands belonging to the students that had stayed behind.

Ron, Neville, Hermione and Seamus from Gryffindor as well as Draco, Blaise, Daphne and Theodore from Slytherin, together all eight of them mimiced their professor, who took the aid with grace and began speaking in a louder tone of voice and making sure his pronunciation was clear enough to be easily mimicked by the second year students.

In clashing harmony the nine beams of magic wove through the air and slithered around the door, further fortifying it against the inferno that kept bashing against it repeatedly. With each smash against the door it shook a little less each time, suggesting that the boy trapped there was beginning to collapse beneath the weight of things.

It was then that Madam Pomfrey arrived looking mighty worried, and it wasn't a moment later after the situation had been explained to her fully by Professor Flitwick, that the Headmaster himself arrived. Purple robes pillowing as he rushed down the corridor to the congregated crowd.

While the Headmaster was being brought up to speed, something shimmered at the far end of the corridor, something the rushing Matron and Headmaster had both not seen. Hidden behind a /notice me not\ charm stood a figure clad in white robes, wearing a mask made of white stone that covered his entire face, even the eyes entirely. Said figure standing still, waiting while idly toying with an item in his pocket.

"Alright, students you have been very brave and helpful this far, but I must ask that you stand aside and go to the end of the hall, far from the door." Dumbledore said with a surprising amount of seriousness, watching as the students filed to where they were told to.

"Flitwick, on the count of three I want you to take down the barrier and open the door. I will subdue young mister Potter, and Madam Pomfrey will make sure he's fine, alright?" Albus looked at the two members of staff, who both nodded and assumed a ready stance.

In the corner, surrounded by students that smelled of a mixture of fear and worry, stood a figure cloacked in magic and white robes. The figure looked back to the door, getting ready himself for when the door would be unsealed.

Upon the release of the wards the doors burst open, the inside of them charred, despite the strong wards protecting it. The furniture within the classroom was incinerated, not a single spec of ash left. The walls were rapidly melting along and amidst that raging inferno was Harry on his knees, leaning back and covering his eyes, mouth open in a voiceless scream with two skeletal wings protruding from his back. These two new appendages were quivering, held high and spread, with muscle and sinew forming along them slowly.

Straight after the opening of the door Dumbledore flicked his wand and sent the first containing spell into the inferno to stop Harry from further damaging himself and the school, but the spell was visibly torn asunder by the flames that spiraled within the room. Another spell was flung, one more powerful and complex, but it too vanished in a colorful cloud of broken magic.

Before Albus could send off a third there was laughter coming from behind them. Quickly the three turned, only to be shocked at what they saw. There was a figure in white steadily approaching them, his right hand help up slightly, and on the palm of that gauntlet-covered hand was a blue, glowing sphere. Looking behind the approaching figure all three of them could see that the students were trapped, paralyzed, within a blue sphere of their own. All within the sphere stood eerily still, some looking shocked, and some about to turn. Among them Hermione looked like she was trying to call-out to the staff at hand.

"Do not move a muscle, or you'll have a fun time ahead of yourselves trying to explain what happened to your precious students." The figure drawled in a cold, yet amused tone of voice while approaching still.

"Do not think for a second that you are going to do anything, so I suggest you let the students go and leave." Albus said calmly, his wand pointed at the stranger.

"I think nothing, I know I will just march on past you to take what is mine from this miserable excuse of a school." The figure laughed icily while moving his arm to hold the orb between himself and the three members of staff.

"Either pass, or see what happens when an unmatured core is filled beyond it's capacity." The figure snarled, rather beastly at that.

It was Dumbledore that tossed the first spell, only to watch it veer off from it's target and smack straight onto the orb, which flashed once, the glow of it growing brighter for a moment. The figure cackled again, his approach steady, and by the time he got to the teachers, they stepped aside, but held their wands trained on the figure.

"Who are you and exactly what do you want with Mister Potter." Albus grit from between his teeth, fully abandoning his grandfatherly demeanor now.

"None of what you wish to know are of any concern of yours. You'll find the paperwork perfectly in order by tomorrow." The figure shot back, without even looking behind himself.

Standing at the edge of the doorway leading into, what looked like, Hell on earth, the figure moved his arm and flicked his wrist, sending the orb in his hands flying backwards.

"Catch..." The figure mused aloud nonchalantly as he took a step into the flames.

Flitwick attempted to cast a spell on the orb to levitate it safely over, but like before the spell was absorbed by the sphere itself, leaving only Pomfrey to run and try and catch the thing. For Albus was locked staring at the figure that walked into the flames, too taken aback to even cast a fast spell at the intruders back when the orb was flung off from his hold.

Pomfrey managed to get ahead of the orb and braced her arms to catch the object, but the moment it touched her fingertips, her eyes widened. The orb slid along through the Matron's flesh without hindrance and kept on going right on through the woman without any kind of resistance and when it got through entirely it sailed down to the floor and shattered, effectively ending the spell and releasing the students.

The flames licked along the white boots, caught the edges of the pantleg, tugged and pulled, but unable to burn it. Blue flames erupted from the figures clothing, the unusual flames that raged withint he class-room attempting to undo the magic that held the clothing intact, and protected their wearer from into the fiery inferno the figure walked, his robes pillowing and whipping about by the time the figure was fully in the room. Turning around to face the door, arms extended to his sides, in a cocky show of defiance.

Moving his arms in a casual motion the figure forced the doors to shut and lock down tight. Aiolos knew that he needed no more than that to keep the people out, he'd seen the effect of this raw power contained within this room to know that he had enough time to operate.

Turning to the figure on the middle of the room, one that was now standing slouched, breathing heavily with it's wings slowly taking shape.

"Hush now my child, breathe easy, for I wish no harm upon you." The figure said, arms extended out again, waist bending to bring the male in white to a bow, awaiting to be tested for his words.


	2. In the while they were

May 29th of the year 1992 had begun like any other in the life of one Aiolos Eldrich, the Headmaster, and Founder, of the Arcane Academy of Cairo, a School of Magic.

A few words to be spoken about the differences between this establishments and the three most known of.

Where schools such as Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were the most esteemed ones to stand through the ages, different from one another in small details. For example Hogwarts taught it's students the common ground of Magic, covering over the basics of just about everything, but rarely straying beyond what was required for an individual to survive in the world. Beauxbatons, on the other hand, specialized in the more spiritual aspects of Magic, coaxing and guiding it to achieve their results. Lastly Durmstrang that prided itself in the perfected art of controlling Magic, bending it to the casters will. Despite all these differences, there was one thing that all three establishments shared in common with one an other.

Severe prejudice towards individuals of creature heritage. While all three gladly accepted beings that had creature in their genes, ones that were classified as /mild influence\, such as the Veela. Beings that had almost entirely been bred out of the bloodline, to a point where the original creature, and most of it's traits, had all but faded out entirely, leaving behind only small physical traces and faint echos of the power once wielded by the originals.

So in an effort to offer all beings, that was excluding simple wizards that had nothing else to them than that. It was that Aiolos originally founded the Arcane Academy under the blessing of the Pharaoh that ruled over the region at the time, to offer to those shunned by the humans an equal chance to learn about themselves and the world they were in. The more varied the populous within the school became, so too did the material that was taught change. Over the ages the academy has hid itself from the prying eyes of established governing organs, becoming more of a private school than anything else...

But it seems that we have been side-tracked from the origin, so let us return to the beginning of the day of May 29th in the year 1992.

Aiolos'day had began unusually early with an emergency at the school. It seemed like a fight had threatened to erupt between two clashing factions of creatures. For clarity let it be said that while the staff at the school did not favor one category of being over the other, the large variety of species within the facility meant that there would be, at any given moment, be housed several types of creatures that just did not get along at all, as dictated by their very nature, so things like this were bound to happen every now and again.

While the Academy staff had swiftly dealt with the unrest, well before it could escalate beyond a mere sciff in the halls, the Headmaster was still called in to deal with the instigators of the uprising, as was the Headmaster's contract-written right and duty to do.

Aiolos had walked through the front-doors dressed in his usual attire of white robes that were cut to fit his form, with a deep hood that was currently pulled up to hide the males head. The robes themselves were fastened tight around the torso, held secured by two rows of buttons which each had the head of a Medusa printed on each and every one of them, while from the waist down the robes were left open to pillow out with even the slightest of winds. The sleeves were styled similarity, they clung to the arm all the way from the shoulder and down to the elbow, from where they widened out steadily until they reached the second knuckle of the males middle finger. The mouths of the sleeves were trimmed with the grey of silver, without any form of pattern to them. On his legs and feet Aiolos wore fitting, white dragonhide trousers, while his feet were covered by a pair of mid-calf height white dragonhide boots, both items which were fastened on tight by straps of grey leather that were held tight by buckles that resembled the heads of snakes.

While one would expect to see Aiolos'face, instead all who looked were met with the icy visage of an expressionless mask of white stone. Without any holes for the eyes of mouth. No decorations of any kind to be seen the mask made most think that the twin of Death had come down to visit upon the mortal realm.

On the entire length of his right arm, Aiolos wore a metal gauntlet, undecorated, seemingly simple. Where most gauntlets would cover the entire hand in protective layers of metal, this one only covered the thumb, index and middle fingers, leaving the two others uncovered and perfectly visible. All in all the item was an oddity, for Aiolos was never seen without it, much like his mask, no matter what he wore.

In the middle of the large entrance hall stood four students with two members of staff per student, all standing deathly still as the male in white marched over, stopping only when he was five feet away from the four who dared break the peace that Aiolos had worked so hard to establish within the halls of his school.

"Misters Le Morganti, Vengeway, Delahue and Archelaus will follow me to my offices." Aiolos said in an icy tone of voice, making sure to point out each of the four that stood behind him that he wished to follow. With each name mentioned there was a ripple in magic, faint, but definitely there.

Following the order of the names was a Vampire. Standing at a considerable height at an even six feet. Physique-wise the male was toned, not overly worked muscles that were hidden beneath a layer of designer clothes, ones that certainly defined his masculinity and features. Face angular with a strong jaw and a sharp nose with slightly pointy ears. Flesh pale as the light of moon with eyes red as freshly spilled blood, ones now set into a heated glare in the Headmasters direction.

Second was a shaggy looking male, a werewolf by birth, with hair as wild as a wind-swept bush, strands and locks sticking this way and that, almost defying gravity itself. Standing slightly hunched, shoulders drawn in close, and arms hanging lazily. Clad in worn clothing that had seen one too many a fights in their time. Sharp amber-colored eyes narrowed as the male looked at the headmaster upon being addressed by the aforementioned.

Third in line was another tall figure, a Celestial, matching in height with the vampire. Where the vampires flesh was deathly pale, this ones was a healthier hue of paleness. Golden hair was tied neatly to the back into a firm ponytail. Where the cursed one was tall and fit, the Celestial was built for combat, large muscles bulged beneath the pale flesh, where it could be seen upon the males arms, since the rest of the being was covered. Armor covered the being from shoulders to the feet, the metal was smooth without any flaws or markings, following the natural form of the beings structure. At the males back that armor was open to let a pair of massive white wings be maneuvered without obstructions.

Where the other three could pass for humans quite easily, the last one would have to work for it, what with being a Dragon-kind and all. Covered in deep-blue scales from head to toe, with the facial features of a reptile. Eyes glowing yellow and a pair of large, leathery wings folded neatly at the males back while a long tail swished back and forth in agitation behind him. Clad in nothing more than an ornamental loincloth that hung off of the males waist, the being stood tall, arms crossed over his chest and a low growl rumbling in the males throat.

Standing still the four awaited for the headmasters verdict, only to be taken aback at the demand to follow the male to his offices, nothing good ever became out of being called into that dreary place.

"I thank the members of staff that helped quell this threat. Rest assured that compensations will be made, but for now you are all dismissed." Aiolos motioned for the members of staff, who immediately began to turn and leave. Aiolos' tone of voice calm and thankful as he did so, mere moments before he took the few steps it was required to walk from between the werewolf and the celestial alike.

Stepping aside the two gave the Headmaster plenty of room to march past, all four of them marveling the sheer arrogance with which the male operated. None who went to the school knew about the headmaster, with the exception of perhaps the undead teachers who had spent a great many a centuries teaching. There were no rumors, no whispers among the old records regarding the facility, yet there was none in staff who objected to anything the male did, somehow he held the respect of some of the older families among the light, dark and neutral sides, a fact that none had found a reason for.

For this apparent lack of reason behind the fact that all were to bow down to Mister Eldrich, just because he was an authority figure, was why two of the four had staged this little show-off. To draw the headmaster out into the open, trusting in Mister Eldrich's arrogance to blind him to it.

When the Headmaster had stepped past, the werewolf and vampire launched into action. A quick flick of the vampire's wrist, and a small cut across his right palm escorted by a hushed whisper of "Sanguinem Carcerem" to focus his magic into a spell most devious.

The blood that spilled from the wound snapped through the air and latched onto the two unaware ones. Quickly and effectively the cursed blood bound the two in place, rooted them to where they were while making even a thought of moving a most painful one.

Meanwhile the werewolf had sprung forward, morphing along the way to take his full, beastly form, all teeth and claws with taut muscle and gleaming auburn fur, fully aiming on maiming his unaware target. Instead of catching those white robes in his claws, or sinking his teeth into the flesh at the back of the males head, all the wolf was able to grasp was air as he sailed through where the Headmaster had been a mere second earlier, but now there was nothing.

Dumbfounded the werewolf snarled and looked around, not even bothering with the members of staff who casually leaned against the far walls, observing the situation with obvious amusement. It wasn't until the sound of laughter as it echoed through the hall, that the two offenders turned to their right, only to find the male slowly raising from the floor like a ghost.

"How dreadfully predictable, although I must say that I am quite disappointed with how long it took you, more so because I lost a bet because of your tardiness." Aiolos drawled from there he stood, facing the two offenders. Still nobody made a move to assist, all were eerily still.

"Be quiet you pompous piece of filth." Le Morganti snapped sharply, before moving his wounded hand again.

From the wound, blood gushed out, swirling and spinning around the held appendage while the wound healed. With a curt nod to his accomplish in this act of treason, the cursed-one rushed forward in a blur, ready to strike at the motionless Headmaster.

The werewolf stayed behind, making himself seem like the lesser threat, waiting for his accomplish to draw the Headmaster's attention.

Moving fast the vampire closed the distance between him and the source of his frustration. Upon closing the distance Le Morganti's left hand was poised at the ready to strike from below, claws at the ready to tear through fabric and flesh, but instead of any of those the vampire found himself swiping at the thing air when the male he had intended to hit, moved aside. Momentarily taken aback by the others capability to actually keep up with his motions.

Aiolos watched the vampire gathering his powers, his senses fixed upon the male. Where he couldn't use his eyes through the mask, Aiolos relied on hearing and feeling, as well as his own magic, to keep him aware of his surroundings, and all three of those were well tuned to the charging being.

Taking a step to the side, saying nothing, merely standing there, waiting for the vampire to act again. The second lash was dodged as easily as the first, as were the third and the fourth, but the fifth proved out to be a bit trickier. Where the male had seemed to lash out with his right hand, there had beena slight shift in the surrounding magic, that had been the only warning to Aiolos that something else was coming, yet he hadn't been prepared for it quite as properly as he should of.

Accompanying the lash had been a secondary strike. Not from a clawed hand, but a sharp blade that had formed out of the sphere of blood that hovered around the vampire. The blade had struck swiftly, catching the right cheek of the mask that was worn, carving a nice slash along the smooth surface.

Reaching his right hand up to run the clawed tip of his middle finger, running the metal along the cut there, seemingly taken aback by the fact that someone managed to strike at him. Raising his head and about to comment on the strike, when Aiolos heard a snarl from behind.

Snapping around sharply, only to find himself with a faceful of claw and fur. From the force of the strike Aiolos was sent tumbling to the ground, sliding along the smooth marble. There had been a sharp crack, that had delighted both offendors to no ends. The sight of the dark substance that sprayed here and there from the tumbling figure, only heightened the delight the two felt as they made their approach.

Before either of the two could get close enough, however, the seemingly broken figure moved. The right hand moved up and pointed the index finger at the werewolf before a clear, steady voice said. "Cruciatem Infernale." And it was in an instant that the werewolf let out the most horrendous of screams to ever be heard.

Falling onto the floor in a writhing mess as green flames burst around him. While the flames produced no heat, they did everything else exactly like real fire would. Devouring the fur and scorching the flesh, doing so slowly to further heighten the agony of their target.

Transfixed by the fate that fell upon his accomplish, the vampire failed to pay attention to the Headmaster getting up on his feet. Mister Le Morganti couldn't believe that someone in mister Eldriches'position would use such an evil curse on anyone, little alone a student. What was more stunning was the fact that the Headmaster seemed fully functional, despite the crushing blow he'd received to the head a moment prior

Slowly turning to look at the male, feeling his rage bubbling anew, only to feel it leave him again at what he saw.

Standing there, calm as ever, with his arms crossed over his chest, head tilted slightly to the left. The mask pure and pristine as it always was, with the exception of the large chunk of it missing from the left. Behind the mask was nothing, nothing but blackness that literally oozed out. A single blue dot glowing where the eye should be.

"What in the seven hell's are you!" Le morganti shouted out, taking a step back when his writhing accomplish almost bumped into him. Eyes fixed upon the male.

"Nothing you know of, the effect I have on you makes it so that you see nothing when looking at something you haven't seen, but now..." Aiolos laughed, more so at the stunned expression on the vampires face when he mentioned an effect, but left it there.

Vanishing from sight, even from the acute one of the vampire, Aiolos made quick work at getting into the vampire's personal space, face to face with the male. At the same time Aiolos brought his right hand up, fingers pointed and ready as he slammed them up, penetrating the flesh and sinking through the diaphragm all the way up to the heart.

"Now it's time to wake-up, but before you do, I want you to remember, in ALL your private moments, that I defeated you without ever lifting a finger." Aiolos hissed low and threatening to the confused, twitching Le Morganti heir.

Stepping back and yanking his arm back to allow the vampire to collapse onto the ground, clutching at the hole in his chest to keep himself from bleeding out.

With his vision slowly blurring and fading to black at the edges the Le morganti heir watched the retreating back of the Headmaster, cursing the males existence to the very core, only to have his dark promises of doom be interupted by the sound of something shattering. Looking to the side the vampire could see that the entire wall had shattered like glass, revealing blackness behind it, and the breaking kept on going.

Eyes wide as a small seed of panic planted itself within the vampires mind. Even though he lay there, in a growing pool of his own blood with a literally broken heart, he rather not watch everything falling down ontop of him.

Upon the shattering of the last identifiable piece, which so happened to be the emotionless, masked face of the Headmaster, the vampire was plunged into darkness, but only for a moment. In a flash of light, and the sound of someone calling out to him in a stern voice, the vampire shook his head and willed his rapid breathing down.

"Get a move on before we're in more trouble." the werewolf snapped, tugging on the vampires arm, who merely pulled himself free and scoffed.

"Mind your tongue mutt." The Le Morganti heir scowled casually, adjusting his clothes briefly before turning to follow the headmaster. His eyes fixed upon the male, a haunted look, a mixture of fear and hatered nailed to the back of the man who held more secrets than one would assume.

"Whatever." Mister Vengeway growled, rolling his eyes at the arrogant piece of work. He couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment when the vampire never gave the signal to get on with the final stage of their plan. He'd been itching to sink his claws into something...ANYTHING, and now he was sure to get reprimanded like a wee pup, how fun it would be.

When the five got to the offices, there were already people waiting for them. The father of each of the males standing there, all looking equally disappointed in their own way.

Le Morganti senior stood tall at the left-hand of the room, with his arms behind his back and chin held high. While those blood-red eyes nailed their gaze straight onto his oldest son. Clad in a three-piece suit, cut to fit his form perfectly with small details in silver. Wavy black hair was tied back into a tight ponytail, held together by a red silk ribbon.

Vengeway senior stood tall as well, his amber eyes drilling holes upon his arriving son, but where the vampire was tall and straight-backed, the old werewolf was slightly hunched, his muscles far more prominent as their flexed and pressed against the clothing he wore. A simple pair of grey pants and a white dress-shirt with a jacket tossed over it, no tie nor any other accessories. His long beard was neatly braided, while his hair was short and wild, semi-spiky suggesting that the male did not care of his hair, or he just got out of bed prior to arriving in the school.

Third stood Delahue senior. Like his son the older Celestial was clad in an armor, but his was from head to toe, and decorated by a plethora of runes. The breastplate had the image burning eye imprinted upon it, the family sigil. Standing tallest with his long, grey hair held open, allowed to cascade down along his back, perfectly highlighted against the red cape at his back. Massive pair of equally grey wings were tucked flat against his back while his amethyst-colored eyes blazed with contained rage.

Lastly there was Archelaus senior. A burly male of the dragon-kind, who's black scales seemed to absorb all the light that hit him, making him seem just that much more ominous. Sharp green eyes set upon his son as he straightened his back and growled low in his throat, while his wings quivered, but remained tucked against his back. The only one who wore no clothing, not even a loincloth, his kind rarely saw the reason to wear anything, especially since their private parts were internal, not flopping about like all three others.

Once everybody got seated, some earning themselves the first round of scolding from their parent, all of them began the long talk over how to approach the situation, and what sort of punishment is to be applied here. It wasn't until three hours later that they emerged from the offices of Mister Eldrich , the adults still conversing while the sons followed, some with their head bowed, some just trying to look like they didn't belong to the whole entourage.

They walked down to the lowest levels of the school, straight to the archways that held the portals that led to the different realms of existence from where these beings hailed from. Having agreed on a two months expelling from the school, with a requirement to keep studying on their own and keep their grades, or face a repeat of the year.

"Just you wait till your mother hears about this." Growled Vengeway Senior as he grabbed his son by the wrist and began dragging him away to the right most portal, said pup trying to fight the drag while whining about the unfairness of it. Really quite childish.

"We'll be the laughing stock of the entire congregate." Delahue senior said calmly, watching his son walk towards the portal. Giving the headmaster a curt nod of his head before following suit.

Mister Archelaus senior said nothing, he merely growled at his son and sent him on his way, following suit in an angry stomp, leaving the Headmaster and the Le Morganti's standing in the hall. For a while Le Morganti senior and Mister Eldrich looked at each other, neither moving at all nor saying anything.

Finally the older vampire turned to his son and motioned for the lad to get a move on, the older one following suit at the boys heels, stopping at the portal to glance over to the Headmaster.

"This isn't the last of it." Le Morganti senior warned before stepping through the portal, yet his eyes held no malice or threat, but poorly hidden grief.

"I know, old friend...I know." Aiolos called after, his voice barely above a whisper.

"But before I find my end, I have a school to run, people to attend to...but most importantly." Aiolos mused, bringing his hands up to smack them together, enjoying in the way the sharp smack echoed in the massive hall.

"I have a party to plan!." Aiolos proclaimed, hardly bothering to keep his voice down, letting the statement echo as far as it would, while the male turned and marched off.

From then on the day had been quite a calm one, no further incidents required his personal attention, so he was free to plan the end of term party. A long standing tradition in the Academy that most students looked forward to, especially the ones graduating.

It wasn't until later in the evening when Aiolos got back home and was in his study, going over the last of his paperwork that he noticed something out of place. Besides the flickering light of the candle on his desk, there was a steady glow coming off of the wall. Getting up to go and investigate this anomaly, it dawned upon Aiolos that it was his tapestry.

His name at the top, from where three lines ventured out, and out of those three one was burnt unrecognizable, yet Aiolos knew the name there. From that scorched blotch a single golden line now ventured down to another name, one that hadn't been there before.

Surrounded by the faint golden glow was a name /Harry James Potter\ and his date of birth 31st of July 1980, with another date in smaller print stating the current day of 29th of may 1992. Tilting his head, feeling mighty puzzled Aiolos reached his hands up and grabbed the tapestry, yanking it off it's fastenings.

"What in the seven hell's..." Aiolos cursed under his breath as he ventured to his desk again, setting the tapestry on it, pacing before it for a moment.

For a while Aiolos sat and pondered at the tapestry he held in his hands. While he had several theories about what was going on with it, he wouldn't act until he knew for sure. Setting the tapestry back in it's place, Aiolos took one look at it, while straightening his clothing.

Venturing off to find his faithful companion. Finding said creature on it's perch in the study in the second floor, Aiolos chuckled softly. Standing there, on one foot, was his mail delivery Falcon, currently eating the little critter she had managed to catch. Beautiful with a belly of white where the rest of her was grey with little black dots littering her body almost everywhere.

"Greetings beautiful." Aiolos crooned to the bird as he made his way over to the desk next to the falcons perch.

"Up for delivering a few letters?" Aiolos inquired from the bird, who merely tilted her head, as if to ask whether or not her master was being serious.

Writing down, whatever it was that needed to be said, onto two pieces of parchment. After checking them for errors, Aiolos rolled them up and added a bit of wax to keep them rolled up, and after adding his seal onto the wax, Aiolos turned to his companion, only to see her extending her foot to him.

A soft chuckle escaped the man in white as he shrunk down the parchments and secured one to the leg of the bird, while letting her grab hold of the other.

"First deliver the letter that you are holding over to my old friend Talos, he should be at the Broken Wand tavern, if not, return the letter to me. The next one goes to the Goblin bank." Aiolos instructed his companion, while carefully picking her up and moved over to the balcony. Once outside stroked his thumb along the back of the falcon before sending her on her way.

With those chores done, Aiolos moved off again, for he had things to prepare. First and foremost he needed to inform his replacement that he would be unavailable to fulfill his duties for an indefinable amount of time, and then he'd get ready to venture to the ends of the earth to settle this.

Deciding to take a walk about his home Aiolos bent his arms behind his back, grasping his left wrist with his right hand, idly humming to himself while he waited and walked. After an hour and a half of endless walking around the large building, Aiolos was alerted to his familiars return by the sharp shriek from the bird.

Venturing on over to where he suspected his familiar to be at, Aiolos entertained himself with the possibility of the kind of reply he would get on his first letter, after all the recepient could be...fickle. Finding the falcon perched where she had been before, with a single letter wrapped around her ankle. Petting the falcons head briefly before going for the letter, he gave the bird her freedom to go for a flight without destination, a command the bird was happy to accept before flying off to the vast outside world.

Unfolding the parchment while walking towards his study, Aiolos held it so that he wasn't actually facing it, but instead he was pointing it to the side slightly. Were someone to witness it, they would swear seeing a pair of glinting eyes within the darkness provided by the hood, and hearing hissed words followed by the males laughter, joyful and delighted.

"Of all the possibilities, I never imagined I'd have need of him on one of his better days." Aiolos all, but sang aloud, arms spread out while he walked along the corridor, robes and parchment a flutter.

The content of the note was simple, and to the point with only a single line of text with a signature of two red blades crossed.

I will meet you in your study at midnight.

The remaining hours until the stroke of midnight were spent in comfortable silence in the study, reading a book about herbology, why? Simply because he needed something to pass the time without getting too focused into it. When the figurative clock struck midnight, all was silent, with the exception of the slight breeze blowing through the large windows.

"Your punctuality is truly remarkable Talos." Aiolos mock-drawled, grinning behind his mask at the sound of a huff coming from above the left most bookcase.

"Your senses have remained as sharp as ever, but niceties aside, we have business to attend to." The figure growled from his perch, lounging on his side on top of the bookcase.

Clad in black leather that hugged his form flawlessly, with a cowl covering half of his face and the hood the rest, letting only his eyes shine bright. Those spheres that radiated the faint glow of molten gold held their gaze fixed upon the male in white.

"Indeed so." Aiolos crooned softly as he reached his right hand down and tugged open a drawer, and once opened he pulled out a box and lift it onto the table and opened it unceremoniously. Inside the box were seven beautiful, smooth spheres which glowed bright white light all laid out on a pillow of black velvet.

"You will get one of these, should you accept, and two more upon the completion of the task." Aiolos said icily, his tone taking a drastic turn from before, as if to indicate the seriousness of the matter.

Any other case and scenario would of left the mysterious Talos unperturbed, but upon the sight of those spheres left the male stunned into silence. The famous Stars of Seth, a masterpiece of elven craftsmanship, coveted by any, who knew their power and value.

"What's the job...Who will I my blades sing for?" Talos hissed before rolling off, tumbling silently to the floor, grouching there, staring at Aiolos.

"I wish for you to find a person, one Harry James Potter." Aiolos said, pointing over at the tapestry.

"Find him, and everything about him from place of birth to the color of his underpants, be as thorough as you possibly can, kill any who stand in your way." Aiolos demanded, reaching into the box to grab one of the spheres, only to toss it over to Talos.

Narrowing his golden eye Talos stared and listened while the job was described to him, it sounded more than simple enough, yet the pay suggested otherwise. In any other scenario Talos would of declined a job as shady sounding as this, but he knew Aiolos well enough to know, that when the man wanted something done and needed to hire people, he made sure to pay them in such a way that betrayal was out of the question.

Catching the sphere in his right hand as it flew at him in a lazy arch, Talos took a while to observe the jewel, marveling the flawless surface and the tiny light at the center of it. Averting his eyes from the price and back to his employer. Moving his right arm across his abdomen, effectively pocketing the jewel while at it, Talos took a deep bow.

"Got any suggestions where to start." Talos inquired casually as he stood up once more,

"I've narrowed down to somewhere in either the United States of America, or the United Kingdom based off of the name alone. I've also narrowed your areas of focus down to schools that take in twelve year old individuals. I'd start with any and all magical institutes, considering the manner with which he has come to rouse my attention.." Aiolos explained, closing the box and setting it back in it's place in the drawer.

"Pretty wide area, got any more leads to go by?" Talos inquired while moving to stand and lean against the bookcase.

"Should you wait until tomorrow afternoon, I should have more exact information." Aiolos replied nonchalantly, claiming his seat once more, crossing his right leg over his left at the knee, arms casually resting on his lap.

"Then I will return tomorrow at four o'clock, until then." Talos said with a curt nod, before stepping back into the shadows, vanishing into them without a trace.

"That'll do just fine." Aiolos said to the thin air after his visitor had vanished.

With a sigh Aiolos got up and left the study, deciding to catch an early night, despite it being well past midnight by now, but for someone who rarely slept as it was, anytime was early.

The following day was sent in arranging for his substitute to take over the day-to-day running affairs of the Academy, as well as visiting the bank to set new vaults on stand-by with a neat sum of gold stored within them. While the funds were settled, Aiolos took his time in getting to the bottom of the mysterious figure of Harry James Potter, all the while commending the Goblins for their strick policy regarding customer privacy. Having acquired only the country where the individual lived in, Aiolos left the bank and went home to await for his tracker to arrive.

Meeting with Talos went by swiftly and the mysterious figure left without a trace to complete his assignment, leaving Aiolos to his own devices yet again.

From then on days passed one after another, and Aiolos spent all of them getting ready to act once he had all the information he needed. Assembling his gear, brewing the potions he thought he would need. Gathering his trinkets, the many items that had been acquired during his years traveling between the worlds.

Setting, and resetting, the various items along the diningroom table, adding and removing things the more he spent thinking about it. When he wasn't planning to venture off into the world, for who knows what, Aiolos spent the majority of his free-time with the Goblins, getting all the necessary paperwork started. While Aiolos had no idea what would await for him at his destination, one thing was clear...This Harry James Potter was a part of his bloodline now, and none of his blood would be raised among pathetic humans, he'd rather behead himself than see that happen.

Two weeks later welcomed the arrival of Talos once more. The stealthy little informant appearing in Aiolos'bedroom in the middle of the night, where the owner of the room was currently laying in bed, fully clothed, but motionless. Without the steady raise and fall of his chest, one might of thought him dead.

Whatever kind of relations Talos and Aiolos had, it seemed to culminate around the fact of Talosa tempting to sneak-up on the strange man known as Aiolos. Materializing from the shadows Talos stepped nearer the bed, not a sound to be heard. Grouching low Talos began the slow stalk towards the sleeping figure one step at a time.

Slowly his left hand slid down to his waist, grabbing onto the handle of one of the daggers there., slowly pulling it out. With a twisted sort of delight Talos made his way by the bed, sparing but a moment to eye the other. Getting ready to pounce, muscles pulling tight beneath his leather armor, just about ready to pounce when all of a sudden.

"Good evening Talos. Am I to assume that your mission is complete and that you've come to report?" Aiolos spoke-up, and to further annoy Talos, it didn't sound like Aiolos had been asleep at all.

"By Orhen's balls..." Talos hissed as he stood up and sheathed his dagger again.

"Don't sound so disappointed, one of these days you'll loose one of your daggers in my intestines, but for now, please hand in your report." Aiolos crooned softly, like he was talking to a child that was pouting.

With a huff, Talos crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head back while turning his back on the prone figure to walk off, expecting for Aiolos to follow suit. With a sigh the man in question got up and followed his favorite assassin over to the study, the very place where he had hired the male in, and he knew well why.

Going over to his desk, once more to open the drawer and pulling the box out, opening it to display the gems, now only six of them resting upon their pillow. Taking out two of them and setting on the table, from which Talos snatched them away, admiring them for a while as Aiolos set the rest away.

"Now, the information." Aiolos said as he sat down on his desk, looking directly at Talos, waiting for the man to make his move.

"Yes yes, stop your fussing when you got no reason to fuss." Talos scoffed as he pocketed the jewels, carefully setting them aside the one he already had.

"Harry attends school at Hogwarts, School fo Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is located right over here." Talos murmured softly while pulling a map from his pocket and spreading it onto the desk and pointing at the location of the school for Aiolos to see.

" He is,a s you know, twelve years old and his only living relatives in the country are ones Petunia Dursley nee Evans, Vernon Dursley and Dudley Dursley, quite an awful bunch of humans if I say so myself..." Talos explained while he paced back and forth in front of the massive desk, his hands never stopping their movement as he spoke.

"Investigations upon the residence at Privet Drive number 4, Surrey, it became apparent that the boy in question wasn't well liked." Talos resumed, but now he moved over to Aiolos, leaning forward a little, tapping his head breifly to indicate that he wished for the male to see for himself the information that Talos himself couldn't find words for.

Moving his left hand over to his gauntlet, Aiolos drew his wand, from where it was embedded along his forearm. Murmuring the spell that he required Aiolos set his wand on the table again before placing his right hand upon Talos'forehead.

Seeing the human residence was enough to aggravate Aiolos somewhat, just because it was a HUMAN home. Further looking through revealed that only two bedrooms were occupied at all, their occupants sleeping away soundly, literally so. Within the memory Aiolos could feel a certain...hunger bubbling just beneath the surface, a hunger for carnage, but as his job description denied the freedom to just slaughter, the memory moved along.

Next was shown a third room upstairs, this one filled with items that had been discarded, all neatly piled and set for storage. Humans were something that Aiolos could never understand. Finally there was a door shown beneath the stairs, a small little hatch. Upon its opening Aiolos felt stunned, there was a small cot, hardly fit for a child, with a few drawings and small items here and there amidst the cleaning supplies.

As the memory ended and Aiolos was back to himself, the man in white couldn't help but to growl, motioning for Talos to resume.

"Harry also has a godfather, one Sirius Orion Black, who was sent to Azkaban for reasons that seem shady, at best. His two best friends are Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley, and his brothers George and Fred Weasley, currently being given the lovey dovey eyes by Ginevra Weasley...And before you even ask, no, they are full-bred humans, I checked." Talos ranted on, hardly stopping for air in his haste to get everything said and done.

"Oh and lastly there is a prophecy regarding him, I tried to acquire it for you, but I was almost caught, and try as I might, killing them caused only more trouble than was worth staying there to get it." Talos said with a final nod, stopping in front of the desk again, hands flat on it's surface, leaning forward a little.

Aiolos merely leaned back against his chair and tilted his head up, a gesture which Aiolos performed when he thought something over. With a grunt the man in white pushed himself up and off his chair to stand, only slightly startling Talos in the process.

"Job well done Talos, You are free to go attend to your business, but be on the look-out, for I may have need of you upon my return." Aiolos chuckled, sounding awfully manic in doing so, especially since he was waving his wand carelessly.

In a flutter of robes Aiolos was gone, the sound of his feet patting against the stone floor the only sound to echo in the quiet mansion while the lord of the house went to gather his things, he had family to save. Watching the oddity of a man storming off, filled with such odd kind of glee, was something that had Talos shaking his head as he made his way back into the shadows.

By Wednesday of the third week Aiolos finally set foot on the soil of the United Kingdom. Standing out in the international portkeyzone for a moment before heading for the officials sitting at their desks by the door. Heading for the door to depart the room Aiolos was stopped by one of the officials.

Exhaling a sigh Aiolos turned to face the individual and moved on over, glad for his habit of wearing a mask at all times, he had no reason to school his expression from the sneer it was in. Stepping upto the middle-aged, clearly fed-up with her work, woman who sat behind her desk with a neat piles of papers set across it, leaving a smaller area for writing.

"Name and occupation please." The clerk said, her tone of voice neutral, with a hint of boredom creeping on around the edges.

"Aiolos Eldrich, Headmaster of the Arcane Academy of Cairo." Aiolos replied, although he couldn't, for the life of him, think of a reason as to why he didn't use any of the many aliases that he had, then again, anyone looking into Aiolos Eldrich wouldn't get too far in either, so he brushed this slip aside.

"Purpose of visit business or pleasure?" The clerk inquired in that same pseudo-drawl that she had used before.

"Pleasure, I am here on vacation." Aiolos replied just as boredly, tapping his right foot impatiently against the floor.

"Where will you be staying?." The clerk lift her head and glanced at Aiolos, taking note of the lack of luggage with him.

Now there was something that Aiolos hadn't expected, people now a days had to let officials know where they would be staying? What kind of ridiculousness was that?. Oh how he missed the simpler days of just POPPING in and going from there, when travel was far more liberating, and less bureaucratic bullshit.

"In the first hotel that meets my standards, I left without a plan or preparations." Aiolos drawled in agitation. While it wasn't a a complete lie, but the things Aiolos had prepared did not include a prolonged stay in a country as human infested as this one.

The clerk raised a brow, her entire demeanor going from downright bored to a state of alarm, but she tried not to show her concern that the travelers vagueness had inspired. Before another question would leave the clerks lips, there was a ripple in magic around Aiolos, and right after the clerks eyes lost their focus and she slumped in her chair once more.

As not to raise suspicion Aiolos stayed there for a while longer, talking quietly and moving his hands as one normally would when talking, and after a while he merely turned on his heels and walked out, leaving the clerk to dwell in the visage clouding her mind for now. She'd be fine...provided that she possessed any form of will to survive, if not..well, too bad.

Walking right on out from the complex, following the guidelines all the way to the doors to step out. The view he came to did nothing to lift Aiolos'spirits at all. Buildings one by one, impersonal and hardly up to date in style, but most of all it were the beings the inhabited this area that truly lowered Aiolos'liking towards it.

Humans, so many HUMANS walking about, minding their business, their stench so pungent it made Aiolos cringe. Bracing himself against the necessity of diving out of his comfort-zone Aiolos lift his head, holding himself with all the grace and nobility that he had acquired over the years and stepped out, merging into the steady flow of people going about their business.

While he would love to get his task completed already, he had to cover his tracks. Walking for a while Aiolos wandered aimlessly until he could take it no longer. None of the places he'd viewed struck him as places he'd want to stay, and while normally he would just abandon the location entirely, it wasn't an option this time.

Choosing to take the next available Inn or a Hotel he ran across in here Aiolos kept walking until he came across an establishment called the Leaky Cauldron. Entering the tavern, for a lack of a better term for him to call it, Aiolos went straight to the counter.

"Do you have available rooms for one to rent here?" Aiolos all but hissed at the aged man behind the counter, wishing to just get out of here this instant.

"We got one, ain't much, but should do for sleeping." The keeper replied, frowning slightly at the tone he was spoken to.

"Good, I'll take it for a week, this should cover for my expenses." Aiolos said as he set a pile of Galleons onto the counter.

"Uhh..that's plenty, we only charge five Galleons per day.." The keeper stated, bewildered at the blatant disregard of this patron.

"Just take the money and hand me my key, I'm running late as it is." Aiolos snapped, tapping his armored index and middle finger against the counter.

Upon getting his key, while refusing to take the extra money back, only giving his name before getting out of the establishment, venturing back outside. Once he exited the building Aiolos tilted his head back and looked up at the sky, focusing for a moment until apparating away.

All in all it took Aiolos a couple of days to find the school, and get familiar with the surroundings, all the while mindful of his presence as he investigated. The distant castle standing near a cliff, towering against the horizon was truly a magnificent sight, one that Aiolos would happily study longer, but he'd spent enough time on it now, considering the urgency of his task.

Friday found Aiolos standing at the end of the bridge leading to the school. The wind swept over his form, making his robes flutter playfully while the male got a better feeling of the wards around the building. Truly magnificent work, plenty of power behind them, and seemingly impenetrable. Lifting his left hand up to brush the tips of his fingers over the unseen force, Aiolos was pleased to find himself able to pass the wards without resistance, a fact that further cemented the fact there was a child in there that was now of his blood, and thus he would be able to enter the school in the role of an acting guardian and provider.

Just as Aiolos was about to take the first step through the wards to get things under way, he was halted by the sound of an explosion. A quick look up revealed a window suddenly blowing out in a most violent displays of magical outbursts. Whatever it was about the display that struck a chord in Aiolos, the man found himself rushing forward, a sense of dread pulling tighter in his gut. With a hastily cast disillusionment charm shimmering around him, Aiolos rushed ahead, his steps swift and light, filled with purpose while his senses remained locked on the magic still trickled, using it to find his way in this maze.

In a matter of minutes, although it felt like hours to Aiolos, he finally reached his destination, stopping at the end of the corridor to watch the display.

In the middle of a room filled with swirling flames was a hunched figure of a boy. One shivering and shaking in pain, yet looking at the boys halfway skinless face, there was no pain to be seen, only the kind of malice very few could think of. Yet Aiolos knew the look well, he knew the weight that radiated from the boy, it had been many a centuries since he had felt anything similar last, and now he was berating himself over never finishing it then when he had the chance, but how could a father ever take down their own daughter?

Aiolos was shaken form his thoughts by the loud crash that resonated in the hall, his focus returning to the door that threatened to become undone beneath the wrath of the creature trapped inside. He watched in silence as the students and the teacher worked to weave a barrier of fortification around the door. About to step forward and put a stop to their foolish antics, Aiolos halted when he heard rushing steps echo down the hall.

Watching the woman dressed in white and brown rushing towards the scene. Opting to stay put for now Aiolos waited, and was glad for it too since another set of steps rushed towards. Watching an elderly man rushing towards the scene, Aiolos narrowed his eyes and slid closer to the corner. This man radiated plenty of magic, and judging from his high age, he knew well how to wield it, and Aiolos was not looking forward to clashing with him.

As the male stepped past Aiolos moved swiftly. Fishing out a small silver item from his pocket, one that looked like a scarab, and planted it onto the back of the wizards robes, a small pre-emptive act. That taken care of Aiolos stepped back against the wall and murmured softly under his breath, re-enforcing the protective spells woven into his clothing, adding new layers of protecting around himself, finishing off before he was surrounded by the remaining students.

Watching the nervous and frightened faces, Aiolos couldn't help but to grin, things were being made awfully easy for him today. Lifting his left hand, extending it before himself with the palm facing up, fingers curled in slightly. Quietly murmuring Aiolos gathered up his magic, ignoring the few students who stood near enough to hear him, for they were beneath the necessity of being taken notice of.

With his chant finished, magic now twisting and turning upon the palm of his hand in a perfect sphere, Aiolos stepped forward, brushing aside the students and dropping his concealment charm. Before any of teh students could properly re-act Aiolos flexed his left hand and the orb flashed, and here the light reached, all were trapped in stasis, all but the caster who walked out of the field of effect, holding the blue sphere firmly in his hand.

Before Albus could send off a third there was laughter coming from behind them. Quickly the three turned, only to be shocked at what they saw. There was Aiolos steadily approaching them, his right hand help up slightly, and on the palm of that gauntlet-covered hand was a blue, glowing sphere. Looking behind the approaching figure all three of them could see that the students were trapped, paralyzed, within a blue sphere of their own. All within the sphere stood eerily still, some looking shocked, and some about to turn. Among them Hermione looked like she was trying to call-out to the staff at hand.

Prior to his laughter Aiolos had poured his magic through the scarab clinging to the wizards clothing, using it to channel the spell it stored, a minor illusion to leave the victim unable to really do anything, even though afterwards they would swear having done everything to stop the caster.

"Do not move a muscle, or you'll have a fun time ahead of yourselves trying to explain what happened to your precious students." Aiolos drawled in a cold, yet amused tone of voice while approaching still.

"Do not think for a second that you are going to do anything, so I suggest you let the students go and leave." Albus said calmly, his wand pointed at the stranger.

"I think nothing, I know I will just march on past you to take what is mine from this miserable excuse of a school." The figure laughed icily while moving his arm to hold the orb between himself and the three members of staff.

"Either pass, or see what happens when an unmatured core is filled beyond it's capacity." The figure snarled, rather beastly at that.

It was Dumbledore that tossed the first spell, only to watch it veer off from it's target and smack straight onto the orb, which flashed once, the glow of it growing brighter for a moment. The figure cackled again, his approach steady, and by the time he got to the teachers, they stepped aside, but held their wands trained on the figure.

"Who are you and exactly what do you want with Mister Potter." Albus grit from between his teeth, fully abandoning his grandfatherly demeanor now.

"None of what you wish to know are of any concern of yours. You'll find the paperwork perfectly in order by tomorrow." The figure shot back, without even looking behind himself.

Standing at the edge of the doorway leading into, what looked like, Hell on earth, the figure moved his arm and flicked his wrist, sending the orb in his hands flying backwards.

"Catch..." Aiolos chuckled, flicking the sphere back and letting it sail through the air.

Flitwick attempted to cast a spell on the orb to levitate it safely over, but like before the spell was absorbed by the sphere itself, leaving only Pomfrey to run and try and catch the thing. For Albus was locked staring at the figure that walked into the flames, too taken aback to even cast a fast spell at the intruders back when the orb was flung off from his hold.

Pomfrey managed to get ahead of the orb and braced her arms to catch the object, but the moment it touched her fingertips, her eyes widened. The orb slid along through the Matron's flesh without hindrance and kept on going right on through the woman without any kind of resistance and when it got through entirely it sailed down to the floor and shattered, effectively ending the spell and releasing the students.

The flames licked along the white boots, caught the edges of the pant-leg, tugged and pulled, but unable to burn it. Blue flames erupted from the figures clothing, the unusual flames that raged within the class-room attempting to undo the magic that held the clothing intact, and protected their wearer from into the fiery inferno Aiolos walked, his robes pillowing and whipping about by the time he was fully in the room. Turning around to face the door, arms extended to his sides, in a cocky show of defiance.

Moving his arms in a casual motion Aiolos forced the doors to shut and lock down tight. Aiolos knew that he needed no more than that to keep the people out, he'd seen the effect of this raw power contained within this room to know that he had enough time to operate.

Turning to boy on the middle of the room, one that was now standing slouched, breathing heavily with it's wings slowly taking shape.

"Hush now my child, breathe easy, for I wish no harm upon you." The figure said, arms extended out again, waist bending to bring the male in white to a bow, awaiting to be tested for his words.

Harry watched in silence as this stranger walked right into his personal hell on earth, mesmerized by the lack of any harm from the blazing inferno. He watched on as the male took a bow, leaving himself wide open for him.

There was something about this man in white, something that brought forth feelings of anger and frustration, but they weren't his, they were older, from someone else, yet he reacted to them, the flames flaring as his power surged, his wings twitching in irritation.

"Who?...what?..." Harry grit from between his teeth, unable to bring himself to say more while trying to keep himself from shrieking out loud from the way his insides felt.

"Aiolos Eldrich, Mother of the one who has put you through this, as for the what..:" Aiolos said while standing up straight, keeping himself poised in a way as not to appear threatening.

"I am here to help you, and to take you away from those who would exploit you for monetary gain or fame." Aiolos resume, daring to take a step forward, cringing a little at the sound of the hot stone sizzling against the bottom of his boot.

"Funny that you should show up and say that..." Harry growled, but the voice that came from his lips wasn't his at all, it held a mroe feminine edge, and a lot of sharp hissing, and as he spoke his wings poised, quivering a little as the flesh formed over bone, muscle and sinew.

"You would say that Thena, wouldn't you? Let the boy go, you've caused plenty of harm to bring shame to our kind to last a million years." Aiolos drawled, not in the least bit bothered by this turn of events, even as he was slightly irritated that his was how his daughter had managed the adoption, with magic most foul.

"Let the boy go?...I don't think so. He has so much power...so MUCH potential, and I will bring the world to it's knees...I will bring YOU to your knees you degrading piece of filth!" Harry snarled and with a flick of his hand the flames surged, washing over Aiolos.

Aiolos, however, didn't even flinch as the flames surged, he let them wash over, even though he knew they ate away at his magic and enchantments, but he rather loose them than be unprepared for what came next. As the flames vanished from his sight, he was face to face with the madly grinning boy whos eyes glowed bright like the sun.

There was a brief rush of something moving and Aiolos found himself without a mask, said item flying off of his face only to be devoured by the flames in an instant.

Behind the mask was revealed a face, but not a normal one, this one slightly narrowed than a humans, a sharp jaw that had no hair growing on it, instead scales of varying sized decorated the jaw following along the line of it all the way to the base of a pointy ear. The brows were a neat row of black scales with small ridges , the same kind that ran along the underside of the mans eyes before arching down from the corner of the eye to run along the cheekbones.

Lastly were the eyes that were shaped like almonds, blue in color with slitted irises, and likes Harry's his glowed unnaturally as well, both of their eyes flashing when their gazes locked.

"Stupid girl, no matter how much power you pack into your gaze, it will never harm me, little alone kill me." Aiolos hissed dangerously, although the hissing resumed well after his lips had closed shut.

"No, but I can kill you with other means." Harry snarled right back, still channeling this Thena persona, whoever that was.

With a tug and pull of his muscles Harry moved his quivering wings until they were aligned just right and brought them down like spears. Feeling the sharp tips of his wing bones pierce through the clothing and sink into the flesh beneath. The right one getting stuck between ribs, while the other sank to the side, causing Aiolos to snarl in pain, but still he held his gaze.

"You lost mother, you know as well as I do that this spell cannot be undone..." Harry crooned in a hiss, tiptoeing to bring his lips by Aiolos'jaw.

"No, but I can help him win..:" Aiolos snarled through gritted teeth just as he let go of the wing at his ribs and brought his hand onto Harry's head, gripping tight before pouring the remainders of his magical reserve into the boy.

Harry laid in darkness, he could see nothing, but he could feel pressure all around him, squeezing him firmly in place. He heard nothing, he smelled nothing, but he could hear a woman's voice telling him that everything was alright and that he had nothing to worry about, all would be well, and he believed the voice, after all, he wasn't in pain anymore.

This went on for a while, Harry did not know how long, nor did it really matter for he was content where he was, until something changed.

At first it was a single dot of light in the darkness, one that slowly grew brighter until he felt blinded by it, yet he couldn't blink to shield his eyes. Then another voice spoke out, this time a male, slowly but surely growing louder.

This new voice kept telling him to fight it, to grab on and fight to reclaim himself. At first Harry couldn't figure out why he needed to fight, he wasn't in danger, yet the longer things went on and the quieter the new voice became, the more logical the mans arguments became.

Before the light could die out completely Harry reached out for it with the last of his will. The moment he did so Harry felt a surge of power surging through his entire being. Light replaced the darkness and he could once more feel the world around him, not just the darkness blanketing him.

Back in the material world Aiolos and Harry stood deadly still, a battle of will and power taking place amidst the dancing flames, and for a moment it looked like Aiolos was loosing this battle, but at the last moment Harry seemed to realize his predicament. Suddenly Harry's body began to shake violently, his eyes loosing their glow and snake-like appearance and the flames began to die out slowly.

After a while of holding the boy upright Aiolos watched as green mist began to ooze out of the boy, from every orifice and pore, slowly taking shape floating above the boy.

There manifested the spirit of the Basilisk, one that looked mighty irritated at being bested by a twelve year old. However before the ethreal being could do anything, the flickering flames rushed in on the being, clinging to it and hastily burning the essence.

"Infectum reddo essentia..." Aiolos breathed out wearily and moved his right hand to point at the spectral being, after having secured Harry upright with his left arm.

From his palm purple energy slithered out, traveling quickly to the writhing serpent and the flames, beginning to circle around them until a solid sphere was formed around them. Once whole the sphere began to shrink and solidify until it was barely the size of a golf ball before it levitated back to Aiolos'palm.

Hastily pocketing the orbs Aiolos fished out another item from his pocket, all the while holding the barely conscious boy against his form. When he withdrew his right hand from his pocket the door was opened once more.

Straightening himself fully, shifting the boy so he had his left arm crossed over Harry's thighs, effectively seating the male on his arm while keeping his back firmly facing towards the door. There stood McGonagall, Snape in addition to Pomfrey and Dumbledore, all holding their wands pointed forward.

"Must we really do this song and dance, I have urgent matters to attend to." Aiolos drawled coldly, meanwhile his eyes took in the disheveled condition in which Harry was in, the boy seemed to be alright, even as his skin was flakin off.

"Put the boy down and surrender yourself and this will all be over faster." Albus said from the door, testing the stone with the tip of his boot, frowning slightly as it melted against the stone.

"Not going to happen, now excuse me." Aiolos said slightly absentmindedly, for his mind was busy with taking note of the boy and formulating ideas on how to leave this place.

While the people behind him babbled on Aiolos finally came-up with an idea. The stone walls were hot, some actually looking partially melted, so with a plan in mind a grin tugged at the corners of Aiolos'lips, revealing behind sharp, pearly-white teeth.

With a flick of his wrist, accompanied by an aloud spoken spell to conjure up a torrent of water to rush towards the doorway, but aimed lower to hit the stones first. The moment the cool water hit the hot stones it evaporated with a loud hiss. The steam that followed rushed along, dragged by the air-flow of the rushing water.

Using this momentary distraction to his advantage Aiolos dashed forward and flicked his right hand again, using a Bombarda to blast wider the window while the others were still distracted by scalding steam and flooding water.

A couple of steps away from the blown-out window there was someone talking in parseltongue and Aiolos dove to the right just as a spell whizzed past, barely missing him. The sudden dive, combined with the fresh wounds at his sides had Aiolos smacking his shoulder right onto the wall.

The force and momentary stab of pain had Aiolos let go of Harry, who went with the momentum tumbling out of the hole. Aiolos'eyes blew wide in horror as he felt the boy slip from his grasp. Without a moments hesitation Aiolos dove right in after the falling boy, making himself as narrow as possible to catch upto the boy.

The wind howled in his ears, it made his clothing whip at his body painfully, but it paid off when he caught-up with the falling boy, one who seemed to have surrendered to unconsciousness at the moment of falling. Quickly pulling Harry to him Aiolos reached up to his neck and tugged off the chain that hung there.

Pulling the amulet from under his clothing Aiolos closed his eyes and focused, drawing all the remaining magic he had to spare to force the portkey to work. Closer and closer the ground got and the portkey refused to operate. A mere yard away from smacking to the ground below Aiolos heard a sharp crack and the swirl of magic around them before they were tugged away.

Unlike normally when one would travel via portkey, Aiolos felt them tumbling through the network of traveling routes, aimlessly bouncing about for a while until finally the world came to focus, revealing endless dunes of sand for them to see before they smacked onto the side of a dune, tumbling down it with Aiolos clinging to the boy's limp form, supporting it to keep him from getting seriously injured.

Once they stopped tumbling at the foot of the dune Aiolos remained on his back, panting heavily until someone spoke in parseltongue again. Carefully getting up to a sitting position, carefully sliding Harry over to lay flat on his back on the sand.

"Sorry boys, didn't mean to hit my head quite that often." Aiolos crooned affectionately while his hands worked to undo his robe.

Removing it revealed the white dress-shirt worn beneath as well as revealed the gauntlet fully, revealing the wand still set in it's place, apparently channeling magic into the gauntlet for Aiolos to use. Most disturbingly of all was the top of the mans head. Where hair should be there were snakes, several black snaked of varying length, most brushing by the waist when they straightened out, although most of them were coiled up and hissing angrily.

"Be quiet now, we have more pressing matters to attend to." Aiolos scolded his hair as he knelt by Harry and fished some items from his pockets, setting aside some food and water, it'd be a while before they could leave here.

While he waited for Harry to wake-up Aiolos tended to his wounds, cursing at his own carelessness that caused the mess-up of such a simple task.


	3. Tumbling through the sands

"Oh for the love of Hades..." Aiolos cursed while he rummaged through his gear, all of shrunk in the many pockets on his robes.

Pale fingers dug into the left-hand breast-pockets and immediately the were met with wetness and shattered glass. Withdrawing his fingers Aiolos wasn't surprised to find that out of all the vials stored there with cushioning and shrinking charms, the Healing Salve had been the one to shatter when they ported out and tumbled down the dune. Hissing sharply under his breath, as not to stir the unconscious boy that lay on the sands, covered only by the robe Aiolos had moved to blanket the boy.

Getting up onto his feet, a little unsteadily from the blood-loss, Aiolos proceeded to removing his shirt, now ruined by two puncture holes and plenty of blood, and began ripping it apart into usable bandages. All the while the snakes crowning his head moved to press firmly against the wounds, to keep them from bleeding too badly.

Taking two strips out of his sleeves, Aiolos knelt against, grunting lightly from the effort, and slid both strips of fabric into the pocket. Soaking up as much of the salve as he could onto them before fishing them out. Ignoring the specs of glass for now in favor of pressing the soaked strips of fabric against his wounds, thanking the serpents when they moved out of the way and returned to apply pressure again. It wasn't much, but all Aiolos hoped to gain from this, was to stop the bleeding, if nothing else, he had replenishing potions in the plenty to keep on going until he could get them home.

Beneath the scorching glare of the sun, Aiolos heaved a sigh and fell back ungracefully to sprawl on the hot sand. The snakes that were not required to press against the wounds slithered out, spreading all over the warm sands to absorb the heat from it. It was a wonder to Aiolos how tired he felt, and it wasn't even from just the blood-loss he had suffered either. The strain on his magic while enduring Harry's inferno had been considerable with the effort to fend off the flames, yet looking at his robes Aiolos knew just how close to getting burnt he had gotten.

The robes were singed at the ends, the hood now rimmed with blackness, as were the mouths of the sleeves and the bottom of them where the flames had licked away the magic and gotten to the fabric itself. None of it mattered as much as the figure that laid beneath the ruined article of clothing.

Turning his head to the side, much tot he annoyance of the serpents, to look at the lad that was laid but a few feet away. The boys face was mostly peeled off. There was skin only coercing the nose and forehead, some shreds still over the boys right eye. From where the skin had flaked off, smooth blackness had come to replace it, and in the bright light of the sun it was evident that the skin had been replaced by scales, small and deep-black in color. Looking closer boy Aiolos finally took notice of the slight elongation of the boys face. Letting his eyes roam down to the length of Harry's covered form, stopping at the hand that he had forgotten to cover.

While one of the longer serpents began to slither along Aiolos took note of the fingers. Covered in black scales, like the ones on the boys face, his fingers had elongated and his nails grown into and curved into wicked claws. In all their predatory appear, Aiolos could appreciate the kind of macabre beauty of them. Ultimately Aiolos was very well aware of the fact that he would have to bind Harry's magic to contain the transformation to be unleashed when his magical core and physical body could better handle it.

The serpent reached Harry's hand and slithered over it, biting onto the robe and begant ugging it over to cover the boys hand, but what happened next would of been hilarious beyond measure, but for now things just caught Aiolos off guard. The serpent was just about done tugging the sleeve over to cover for Harry's hand was suddenly flung airborne, the long serpent twisting and pulling to itself, only to land smack right onto Aiolos'face.

Neither Aiolos, nor his hair, had noticed Harry stirring, and as the boy opened his eyes and glanced over to his hand, feeling something strange going on there. Once Harry's eyesight had gotten used to the glare of the sun, he'd been shocked to find a large, black snake over his hand, ignoring the fact that it was biting onto the fabric and currently tugging it over to cover-up his hand in favor of surprise and shock.

Pulling his hand up swiftly while scampering to get away from the snake, Harry had sent said serpent flying in a nice arch only for it to land over someone. Aiolos flailed on the ground, trying to tug the panicking snake off from coiling around his face, cursing like a sailor while doing so. By the time Aiolos had managed that and had pushed himself upright he was, yet again, caught off-guard.

Where Aiolos had expected hysterics and panic, there was a quiet, delighted laugh coming from somewhere to his side. Turning to look, Aiolos saw Harry sitting on the sand, holding his robe tightly to his front, like one would a shield. Lips tugged into a grin that revealed a row of pearly white, partially transformed teeth, a smile only a mother could appreciate. Head tilting to the side Aiolos blinked owlishly a couple of times, until he caught his hair chuckling as well.

"What?! What is so funny?" Aiolos seethed, turning his head to try and steal a glance at his hair, which kept moving so the snakes were well out of eye-sight, an act that had Harry laughing a bit more.

"Your snakes...they kept rooting for the one that was on your face, encouraging him on to make it more difficult." Harry managed to say in-between giggles.

"Ah haa...I know a special someone who is going to take a long...COLD shower." Aiolos huffed, pouting slightly while crossing his arms over his chest, only to wince as that aggravated his wounds again, the ones that had hardly healed at all, enough not to bleed.

"Wait, YOU can speak the language of the snakes?" Aiolos inquired, taken aback lightly by this revelation, he hadn't thought it possible to pass on bloodline traits like that in a manner such as this, then again the situation had been quite..unusual in which Harry was taken into the bloodline.

"Uhh, yeah, I've always been able to talk to snakes, that's how I got into the Chamber of Secrets in school." Harry stated a bit wearily, only now taking notice of his surroundings.

"Where are we...and why did you kidnap me?..what happened." Harry inquired, but surprisingly sounding only slightly afraid, but more curious and cautious than anythign else.

"I'd wager were somewhere in the Eyptian deserts, yet nowhere near where I had set my portkey to." Aiolos grunted slightly as he rubbed his wound, coaxing the snakes to squeeze tighter, yet his eyes never left Harry's.

"As for the kidnapping, well I can't very well kidnap someone who is related to me..." Here Aiolos held his right hand up to silence the boys further inquisitions, he had very little energy to spare at the moment, and he needed Harry to ensure that they made it home from here.

"What my daughter the Basilisk, as you saw her, did, was to infuse all of her life-force into you, to eventually take over your body for her own use, but in the process she made YOU her relative, and in such a relative of mine." Aiolos grunted out, shaking his head to clear his mind, only to return his gaze right back on Harry to convey the sincerity of his words.

"Whatever stroke of luck you had made it so that I was alerted to this change some weeks ago, and have worked tirelessly to locate you to bring you home, to be among your kind, OUR kind." Aiolos concluded his speech, offering a small smile to the boy, who merely nodded and seemed to be in thought over it all.

"What exactly am I...what are YOU?" Harry asked, eyeing his transformed left hand while his right reached up to touch his face, tensing notably in doing so.

"Of you I do not know, but we will find out to the fullest extend, this I swear." Aiolos said, nodding his head to seal the deal, so to say.

"As for me...I am the son of Nessa the Gorgon from the realm of Calahra, my father the Wizard Oren, so that would make me a Gorgon and a wizard, but I like to think of myself as more than my HUMAN father." Aiolos said, his tone of voice growing distant and hateful when mentioning his father and his humanity.

Harry looked bewildered at these revelations, although he did adorn a slight tint of sadness at the lack of information on what had happened and what he had been turned into, a freak even in the eyes of someone that defied all notions of being nothing BUT a freak.

Aiolos took note of the look of melancholy overtaking the boys features, his own frown deepening for a while until he forced it aside to adorn an expression, one he hadn't thought to ever use again, a Mothers Smile. Lips tugging slightly into a smile, while his eyes softened, the look of disinterest and distance melting away to be replaced by compassion and acceptance. Shifting himself slightly so that he now sat cross-legged, Aiolos patted his lap, loudly enough to snap Harry out of his thoughts.

"Harry, would you come over here." Aiolos said calmly, using the softest tone of voice he could while looking right at Harry, his gaze never wavering even as his condition tried demanding it to.

Harry eyed the male, Aiolos as he remembered, wearily, weighing his options. In one hand Aiolos had made the pain stop, he had removed the evil that had him trapped in his own mind, not to mention that Aiolos hadn't done anything to him as he lay helplessly in the sand, other than cover him. On the other hand he didn't know Aiolos that well, nor his motives for doing any of it, all of it seeming shady, to say the least.

Weighing his options for a while, up until his Gryffindor courage, or foolishness as a certain dungeon bat would gladly remind, had him hesitantly getting up onto his shaky feet to slowly approach Aiolos. Once he got to the man, harry tentatively seated himself as little on the man's lap as he could so he could bolt away if he needed to.

With Harry sitting on his ankles, more or less, Aiolos moved his arms slowly, making sure Harry saw them reaching out forward from both of his sides before slowly beginning to bend and pull closer. Harry watched as those arms began to close in, tensing slightly, just waiting for the bad to happen, but instead when those arms got close enough to touch, they remained there, a comfortable weight around his chest.

Feeling a weight rest on the top of his head had Harry blinking again, only to find several of the serpents that crowned Aiolos'head slithering about. Some moved to run the side of their face along harry's cheek, like a playful headbutt, some merely hovered there, hissing excitedly.

The serpents were all masters of their own minds, all able to move independently, and apparently to think for themselves quite fluidly, es evidenced in the barrage of questions they fired. Questions ranging from Who Harry was, where he came from, what kind of a snake he was, why he had appendages at his back before, but now they were gone, what kind of meals did the boy like, on and on endlessly, Harry managing to answer to one when four more came flying at him. An act that had Aiolos chuckling quietly while the snakes eased Harry into relaxing by being their honest, innocent selves.

"Alright boys, that is quite enough." Aiolos crooned softly, moving his right hand over the snakes, coaxing them away, much to their distaste and complain. The last one to stay was the only white snake, usually hidden beneath the mass of black ones, but now it hovered there, eyeing Harry critically until being coaxed away as well.

"Was that your grey hair?" Harry suddenly piped up, managing to catch Aiolos off his guard for the third time within the hour.

"Umm...uhh..." Aiolos stammered, hardly able to formulate a coherent though at the moment, let alone a playful reply.

"I..suppose, except I've had him for as long as I've lived so...I went grey early." Aiolos finally replied, chuckling slightly, more so when he earned himself a small giggle from Harry.

"But on a more serious note...I wanted you here to tell you that you need never fear for my rejection, for you are family, forcibly claimed into the bloodline, but family regardless, and I will see to your education, feeding, cleaning and caring as if you were my own, now that your adoptive-mother isn't around to cause trouble." Aiolos spoke calmly, just hugging Harry loosely, so the boy knew that should he want to leave, he could do so freely.

"I know that this is all hard to take in, but all I ask that you trust me to guide your way in this world, and to offer the best tools with which to operate. You need not ever hold me in more of a value than a teacher, a provider, but I wish for you to learn from me all I can teach you. This is all that I promise you cross my heart and hope to die." Aiolos said with a certain level of finality, even going as far as to pull away from harry, frowning slightly as he felt the boy tense briefly.

Moving his right hand over, pressing his index finger against his chest, above the heart and drawing a small, bleeding line diagonally from left to right with the claw on the index finger. Repeating the process from right to left so that he now had an X over his heart to make his promise real as it could ever get.

Harry watched, mesmerized, as Aiolos drew the X over his heart. Looking up into those brilliant blue eyes that still glowed dimly, Harry's lips tugged into a small, hesitant smile.

"I'll...try..." Harry said after a while of contemplation.

Aiolos chuckled slightly and moved his left hand over to gently run it over Harry's head, along the scaled parts and eventually combing his fingers through the hair that had remained on the boys head. Continuing the move of his hand, Aiolos had Harry follow it with his eyes as the man pointed out the food that had been laid out. Two pears, a pair of apples, bottle of water.

"You should eat some, before I will apparate to the Oasis." Aiolos smiled, hiding away his uncertainty over his own capabilities to apparate at the moment.

Harry looked at the food and then to Aiolos, studying the mans face for a moment before nodding and making his way over to the food. Picking up every item set on the sand, using Aiolos'robe like a sac before marching right back over to Aiolos, sitting right in-front of the man and reorganizing the items.

"You should eat too, you don't look so good." Harry stated matter of factually, having noted the unusual paleness pushing forward on the mans face.

"Thank you Harry." Aiolos said with a nod, and a smile, reaching over to grab a pear, wincing slightly as the motion had his side aching.

"How do you know my name?..." Harry inquired before he took a bite of his apple.

"I will show you why once we get home." Aiolos chuckled around his bite of the pear he had chosen.

While they ate, neither said much, Aiolos due to wanting to let Harry be more comfortable, despite the situation and Harry just because he couldn't pick a topic. After finishing his apple Harry took a sip of the water before setting it aside.

"Just one last question, if I can sir..."Harry said quietly, stealing a glance up at Aiolos, waiting for permission.

"Only if you promise not to call me sir, it makes me sound so old and official, you can ask as many questions as you wish" Aiolos returned, grinning around his bite, earning himself a chuckle from the boy.

"Umm, it's a deal, so...How were you planning on taking me from Hogwarts? If I was never officially made part of your family?" Harry muttered onto his second apple, keeping his eyes set upon Aiolos.

"Ah, I had all the forms necessary, validation from the maker of my family tapestry and authentication from the Officials in Egypt as well as the branch of Goblin bank operating here." Aiolos mused aloud, leaning forward carefully, reaching over to fish out the shrunken forms from his last, unexplored pocket, enlarging them and handing them over to Harry to eye.

"I had planned on just having these shown, signed and delivered, all in one, and have you on your merry way with me, after explaining everything as thoroughly as I could with so many eavesdropping in on things that do not belong to them." Aiolos stated flatly, nodding slightly before taking a deep gulp of water to wet his throat.

Harry looked at all the papers presented to him. While some were a bit burnt around the edges, they were all legible, and all stated the same what Aiolos had said, albeit with far more official terms than what his had been. Nodding slightly, while hardly sure of what he read of those papers, Harry handed them over again.

"What now then?" Harry asked, his tone of voice curious, if not a bit skeptical.

"Now, we will gather up our stuff, and you will discard your wand and I will ask to borrow some of your magic to take us home." Aiolos pointed towards Harry's wand as he spoke.

From where Harry had stored it in his robe pocket, there was a steady stream of smoke rising accompanied by a few sparks. Hastily Harry took his beloved wand out to examine. Where once was pale wood, now raw and burnt replaced it. Cracks traveled along the surface of it, like lightning, revealing the core within. Taking a moment to just look at his damaged wand, until a sudden surge of raw magic zapped Harry on the fingers.

Dropping his wand with a yelp, Harry brought his hand up, cradling his fingers. In the same instance Aiolos moved, or more so his hair did. The long white snake reached around and bit onto the handle of the wand and in one sharp upwards motion the snake tossed it high in the air, and a good thing too.

No longer than reaching the zenith of the arch in the toss, did the wand give a loud crack, accompanied by a rush of raw magic. The pulse traveled down all the way to the ground, pushing at the two seated figures. The wand fell harmlessly onto the ground after that, sticking in the sand in two pieces, not a trace of the original beauty left, just a piece of burnt wood now, a sigh which had Harry sighing sadly.

"Do not worry Harry, we'll go get you a new one, we'd have to anyway because I doubt your old wand would of worked well for you with the new changes." Aiolos said comfortingly, reaching his right hand out to place it gently upon the boys shoulder.

"I suppose, I just really like that wand." Harry sighed softly, before beginning to gather up the remaining pear and bottle of water, holding them on his lap while offering the ruined robe back to Aiolos.

Taking his favorite article of clothing, Aiolos looked at it over, but instead of frowning at it the strange man merely smiled and calmly flung it over, waiting for the snakes to gather up in the hood, before pulling it up to cover the top of his head, leaving the robe otherwise open.

"Now...May I borrow some of your magic to use to apparate us both out of this desert?" Aiolos inquired calmly, sliding his right hand down to gently grasp Harry's left.

Harry looked up, but said nothing beyond nodding his head. Carefully Aiolos reached his left hand out and gently took hold of Harry's right hand. Maneuvering their hands so that his were on the bottom with his palms up, while Harry's were on top with his palms down.

"Now, you need to say this clearly after me, and only this first part, ready?" Aiolos asked, his tone of voice carrying over his concern.

This was risky, drawing from Harry's magical reserves just moments after his condition had been stabilized, but at the moment it was the only course of action open for Aiolos.

"Oribos turai magia Aiolos." Aiolos said calmly, making sure to pronounce everything clearly for Harry.

"Oribos turai magia Aiolos..." Harry repeated, albeit a little unsure, yet he was surprised to feel warmth radiating from deep within, slowly spreading out all the way to the tips of his fingers where it began to gather.

"Good Harry.." Aiolos whispered quietly, smiling like any proud parent would.

"Magia tollos ve Harry." Aiolos murmured quietly. And shortly after Aiolos began to feel the warmth spreading from where his hands touched Harry's, slowly spreading out to envelop the gorgon entirely.

Harry watched carefully, swearing he could almost see whisks of magic travel between his and Aiolos'arms. With each draw of magic, all careful and calm, or so harry though they felt, the boy could feel the ache from before slowly returning, and for a while he pushed it back, until he couldn't anymore.

Aiolos kept close watch on Harry, controlling the flow of magic from Harry, waiting until the first sign of discomfort. The very moment Aiolos saw so much as a twitch of an eyebrow he terminated the spell by pulling his hands away, letting the magic settle down.

"That was good Harry, now just breathe and focus, breathe deep." Aiolos murmured softly, breathing audibly himself to give the boy an example.

Harry nodded and closed his eyes, bringing his hands over his stomach, feeling the discomfort radiating from somewhere there. Breathing in hurt , yet every time he breathed out, it seemed to much less than it had been before and eventually Harry didn't feel discomfort anymore, only slight, dull throbbing from somewhere far away.

Carefully Aiolos got onto his feet, the snakes holding tight around him to keep the makeshift bandages on to ensure the full absorbtion of the salve. Offering his hands to Harry again, he helped the boy up onto his feet, breathing in deep to focus and keep the magic he borrowed in check.

"Ever apparated before?" Aiolos asked, looking down at the boy, still keeping his hold on the boys hands firm.

"No..." Harry replied hesitantly, feeling his resolve crumbling slowly.

"Just remember, when we arrive just keep your knees relaxed to take the brunt of the landing, and while we travel, just trust in me to get you there safely." Aiolos sighed slightly, first time apparting was always a bitch, and his condition would ensure a distasteful experience.

"You ready?" Aiolos inquired, smiling softly still, more so when the boy nodded.

For a while Harry was left wondering what would happen now. Aiolos held his hands firmly in his, those radiant blue eyes of his closed shut in concentration, yet nothing happened. All of a sudden, however, Harry felt a yank on his entire being, the world swirling and twisting rapidly in such a way that the boy had to close his eyes, clinging tighter to the only solid thing near him, the hands that still gripped his like a vice.

Just as suddenly as it had began the spinning and yanking stopped and they were left standing at the edge of a vacant lot, or so it seemed anyway at the edge of a bustling city, none nearby looking twice as they suddenly popped into being. Here Aiolos let go of Harry's hands and stepped back, bending at the waist to plant his hands at his own knees as a fit of coughing rush over him.

Normally Harry would of showed some form of concern over his companions well-being, or the fact that the both of them were in tattered clothing, just randomly appearing into places, but as it was the boy was busy being doubled over himself, trying valiantly to keep his small snack down. It was lucky that this far out to the edge of the town there weren't a lot of people to see them, and those that did stuck to their own business.

When his stomach settled Harry dared a glance over towards Aiolos, finding the man straightening up, running his hand over his mouth, wiping away a suspicious red liquid from his lips, leaving a faint trace over the corner of his lips.

"I see what you see not, but be welcomed to my sanctuary, open your eyes and see the Oasis." Aiolos breathed out, the words hardly audible.

Shortly after the words had been spoken there was a small sound, one akin to tiny bells ringing. Looking towards the empty lot Harry had to blink a couple of times as a massive structure slowly came to view.

From the outside the house looked opulent, it had been built out of white, smooth stone that reflected the light of the sun. Large rectangle windows brightened up the interior, although from the ground level one wouldn't be able to see inside.

The house was shaped like a U, with a walkway leading from the gates to the front doors. The top floor was slightly smaller than the bottom floor, leaving both wings of the house with a small balcony to overlook the courtyard.

At the end of the walkway the path widened to fill out the courtyard entirely, with just enough room for the vines to flourish and grow, creeping up along the walls like living decorations. At the centre of the courtyard stood a statue of a winged man, with a stern expression on his face and his right arm up, gripping a sword that was pointed directly at any who walked through the gates.

Behind the statue, a good distance away, was a set of stairs, shaped like a semi circle, that led up to a platform where two more statues stood. These statues depicted a person with a jackals head and a humanoid body, both standing straight with their arms bent to hold their palms against their heart.

Harry watched, bewildered by the sight, for a while until a chuckle from Aiolos brought him back to reality. With a hearty chuckle. The man was standing where he'd been for a while now, leaning heavily against the white stone-wall that ran along the edge of the property, a content smile on his face with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

"Will you be alright?..." Harry asked, brows knitting closer together as he looked at the man, noting the paleness slowly becoming more prominent,

"Yes, once I get to my laboratory, I have a potion there that'll fix this up." Aiolos said, once he regained himself again.

This boy was a strange one. He could go from looking with awe to being concerned in a heartbeat, he could accept his fate with grace and still be hesitant of his choice, it was all very strange, yet so fascinating. Aiolos shook his head to rid himself of his thoughts, needing to focus now in getting inside and tending to Harry.

Pushing himself away from the wall Aiolos turned towards the gateway to his home. Murmuring something in a language that Harry did not recognize, before turning to Harry once more, motioning for the boy to enter.

"In we go..:" Aiolos said calmly before taking the first few steps through the gateway to head down along the path.

Harry followed after a brief moment of hesitation, but being in a place where he knew no-one had him quickly following Aiolos through the gateway. Upon his entry Harry looked to his left and right, taking note that the house did not connect to the wall, rather there were strips of grass separating the house and the wall, strips that went out to the side and disappeared there, stretching towards the backyard.

Hearing, more than seeing, Aiolos stagger brought Harry out of his gazing again, and the boy picked-up his pace till he got to the right side of Aiolos. Walking side by side, Harry moved his left hand up to grasp the wrist of Aiolos'right one, moving it over to his shoulder, while looking up at the older man, offering his support when the other needed it. After all it was the least that he could do to pay back for having his body and mind back, even if he was kidnapped right from school.

Aiolos glanced down when he felt his wrist being grabbed, and had to stifle a chuckle at the sight. There looking up at him were a pair of the most resolute eyes that Aiolos had ever witnessed on a twelve-year old, so what was a man to do, but to accept the help with grace. Careful not to lean too heavily onto the boy, Aiolos put some of his weight onto Harry. Enough that the boy felt himself being leaned on, and thus have a boost on his pride from it, but not enough for them both to loose balance due to difference in height and weight.

Together the duo made their way to the end of the path and up the flight of stairs to the front door. The doors themselves were a bright contrast to the rest of the building. Massive black slabs of stone, with slightly grotesque carvings on them, that depicted people being tugged, pulled and devoured by various creatures. A sight that had Harry dead on his tracks while bright green eyes looked over the carvings on the stone all the way up. At the top of the door there was a face, or more so a skull without the bottom-jaw present, looking down upon those who sought entry.

"Ah, yes...This piece of art, turned housing element, is called 'The Gates of the Underworld' and he would be the King of the Underworld Hades." Aiolos explained, after having noticed Harry observing the doors in silent wonder.

"Ah, that's cool..." Harry nodded, looking back from the door and at Aiolos again.

Well before Harry could even ask, Aiolos reached his left hand out and brushed his fingertip along the stone. There was a low rumble and a series of clinking sounds, indicating that locks had been undone. Reaching his left hand out again Aiolos lightly pushed and the stone door opened without a sound, with only a faint thud as it connected with the wall behind it.

The door opened into a large hall, lit by the light filtering in through the many windows. Looking up it was apparent that above this room there was nothing, since the ceiling was well above the height of the second floor. Directly infront of them across from the room were a pair of windowed doors leading out to the patio that over looked the massive backyard. A little ways closer , running along the all in a semi-circle were two staircases leading up to the second floor. From his point of view Harry could see another set of doors leading out, probably to another balcony.

To the left and to the right Harry saw hallways leading out to the different wings, with who knows what there. As opulent as the place seemed to be, it was awfully plain. The stone floors were bare, no carpets anywhere to be seen, the entrance hall had no small furniture, no tables with decorations on it, no nothing. The only piece of decoration in the room was the chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, and the few candle-mounts on the wall, but that was it.

"I apologize from the lack of comforts around here, I will get around to redecorating once we've both rested." Aiolos sighed, he'd noted the brief flicker of pity that had taken form on the boys features, and Aiolos had felt a stab of...something from it.

Harry looked up at Aiolos, that small smile of his fully on his face again, a good front to distract Aiolos from the gloomy thoughts the man had conjured up from that brief flicker of pity. Steeling his never, before he lost himself completely, Aiolos straightened up, hissing from the discomfort of it. Keeping his hand still on Harry's shoulder, using it to guide the boy along to accompany him to the laboratory.

Turning to the left Aiolos walked down the hallway until they came to a halt in the middle of it. To their right a stairway led down into the darkness of the assumed basement. Aiolos removed his hand from Harry's shoulder in favor of grabbing onto the railing that went along the wall. Easing himself down the stairs into the abyss.

Harry remained at the top of the stairs, looking back where they came from and then to the way the hallway ended in. Harry was in a place he knew not, away from the country he had been born and raised, to a certain degree on the last mentioned. All things taken into consideration Harry was alone, with the exception of Aiolos who, so far, had been supportive in his own way. Now that the man was easing himself down the stairs, Harry spent only a moment thinking on his predicament before deciding to follow, if for no other reason than to offer assistance, should it be needed.

Together the pair of them ventured down the spiraling staircase, ever deeper into the darkness. It was a wonder to Harry how, no matter how far away from the light at the top of the stairs they went, they still had plenty of light to see while they went down, yet looking back or front one could see the darkness just a few feet away.

At the end of the stairs there was a small landing and a door, one that was open all the way to the inside, not that you saw anything beyond the doorway, but the distinct smell of various potions ingredients and previous brewing was quite prominent in the air.

With a quietly spoken lumos, the room before them was light dimly, quite possibly not due to a certain atmospheric implications, but simply because the spell lacked power. Even in the dim lighting in the room, one could clearly see the many shelves full of jars, pouches and small containers, all neatly stacked against the wall. In the middle of the room was the actual work station.

Many vials and tubes were neatly set and ready for use at any moment, those took up the majority of the space at the far side of the large table. A cutting board in the closer to the hand corner, with a mortar and a pestle next to it with the cauldron in the left hand corner. Lastly a worn, old stool stood by the cauldron, the amount of drag-marks left on the floor suggesting that it had been here for quite a while.

Aiolos staggered his way to the stool and shakily sat on it, trying to control his breathing, for who knows what reason. Harry noted just how concentrated Aiolos looked, like a man who has gathered up all of his resolve for something important, yet the paleness over-taking his face suggested otherwise.

"Harry...Could you...go to that cabinet over there...and take the vial right in the middle of the third shelf from the bottom, it is purple in color, a short, round glass vial with the word Regen labeled on it." Aiolos breathed out, pointing past the workstation to the back wall there the aforementioned cabinet stood.

Harry nodded quickly and moved even quicker to the cabinet, which towered over him quite easily, hell it would of towered over Aiolos too. Reaching his hands up Harry grabbed the handles on the doors, finding slight entertainment in the snake-like design of them before giving a tug. When nothing happened, besides a small groan from the door, Harry tried again and again, tugging until the doors finally opened.

Small shelves lined the interior of the cabinet, even along the doors, and each shelf was stocked with all sorts of potions, each labeled with a neat handwriting. Repeating the instructions given, not wanting to bother the ill man, Harry's eyes darted back and forth, counting the shelves from the bottom and then to the middle of the third shelf.

Right where it was meant to be, stood a bulbous bottle with some sort of a purplish smoke-like substance swirling within it. Taking the vial, as carefully as he could as not to disturb any of the other bottles, Harry extracted what he needed and closed the cabinet with his free hand.

Making his way back to Aiolos, looking at his feet with each step, not wanting to trip on his own tattered robes, or his own feet and end-up destroying the vial and it's content. Watching Harry creep, rather extremely so, brought a small hint of a smile to the mans face, his snakes hissing out in a laugh, much to Harry's ire.

"Here you go." Harry grumbled, having no appreciation to being laughed at for being extra careful.

"Thank you Harry, I appreciate it." Aiolos said sincerely as he took the vial and quickly uncorked it, watching the puff of purple smoke erupt from it.

"This is going to taste bad and hurt like hell..." Aiolos groaned, more to himself than anyone else before he took the vial to his lips and downed it in a single go.

Slamming the vial down onto the table, as carefully as one could, Aiolos breathed out a cough and a curse of why all potions that do you good, taste the worse. All that came to a violent halt when the potion began to take effect.

Doubling over and hissing through his teeth Aiolos fell off from the stool, causing Harry to act. The boy knelt down by the writhing figure, frantically trying to come-up with something to do, only to find himself being clung on by the few snakes that could reach him.

Since the longer snakes had uncoiled from around where they held pressure on the wounds, Harry could see the hole his attack had left on the mans side. What had once been a gaping hole, was now a slightly closed wound, that had purplish smoke steadily oozing out of it, the sound of water spilling on hot rocks emanating from the wound as it healed rapidly, pushing out all the excess blood in a macabre display.

For a moment, one that stretched out past the event horizon, Harry remained knelt there, petting the snakes while keeping an eye on the twitching, cursing man on the floor. Without a better course for action than that Harry waited for, whatever it was that was taking place, to pass.

As the pain subsided and the wounds had healed properly, leaving behind only faded marks, did Aiolos finally stop twitching and drew in a deep breath, smashing his palm against the stone floor to solidify his thoughts and push himself upright. Groaning in discomfort Aiolos pushed himself up, not even protesting when Harry scooted over to offer his aid in the process.

"Ah, Thank you Harry, that's always an unpleasant experience." Aiolos breathed out calmly, wiping away the beads of sweat at his forehead.

"Sure looked like it, sir." Harry said with a nod, only to grin sheepishly when he earned himself a pointed look and a tap of an index finger against his nose for the use of the honorific.

"Told you not to use that title, but aside from that!..." Aiolos scolded playfully, before putting his effort into getting up on his feet, ignoring the stabbing pain radiating from his sides.

"We should really go get you some new clothes, and furniture for your room, yes?" Aiolos explained, offering his hand to the kneeling boy, while a delighted grin tugged at the corners of his lips.

Harry tilted his head as he grabbed hold of the hand offered to him. Letting out a sharp eep as he was suddenly yanked up to his feet. Once freed Harry rubbing his arm slightly, but nodded anyway, a small smile on hie face. Apparently whatever drive Aiolos had, was of the contagious sort.

"But first, You will need to wash up, and I'll find, and attempt to shrink, some clothes for you to last till we are done." Aiolos declared, still grinning like the loon that he was.

With Harry on his heels Aiolos trekked upstairs, having to stop a couple of times to catch his breath and ground himself, Harry sticking by until they got to the first floor again. Leading the way over to the entrance hall, Aiolos stopped at the foot of the stairs to glare at the top of them, letting Harry venture ahead before following, holding onto the banister tight for support to make it up the stairs.

"Ugh...I have so many stairs in this place, it's not even FUNNY anymore." Aiolos whined as he climbed up right behind Harry.

"You are acting oppressive and rude..." The white snake hissed quietly, whispering almost as it lift up to be by the man's ear. While he did whisper, he also made sure to pique the boys interest.

"How so..." Aiolos hissed back in parseltongue, frowning a little, his eyes turning to glance at the white serpent swaying in his peripheral vision.

"You said the choice to stay is his, yet you act as though the choice has been made, further pushing what YOU want onto him." Hissed another serpent, this one of the black ones.

"You should remember your own stone-set rule..." Whispered a third serpent. The words he spoke causing Aiolos to stop at half-way of the stairs, a frown forming on his face.

"And which rule is that...I have several." Aiolos huffed, knowing well what his snakes were talking about, but hoping they might mean something else.

"YOU MUST NOT TELL LIES!" All of the serpents shouted out in unison, all moving to stare-down at the man who's head they crowned, each and everyone hissing in annoyance.

"Very well..." Aiolos sighed out in defeat once he got over the surprise of being shouted at.

"What're you shouting about..." Harry inquired quietly from the top of the stairs, looking down at the scene before him with sadness on his features.

"I was just reprimanded for my behavior by my hair..." Aiolos sighed once he got his hair to move out of the way so he could look up at the boy.

"Do you want to go back after your bath?" Aiolos said, only to wince at the sharp hissing coming from behind him.

"Or actually, do you want to go back...there, are you HAPPY now." Aiolos growled out at the end, directing his words at the smug looking serpents that moved about behind him.

Harry contemplated the words spoken to him for a while, fidgeting with his ruined sleeves. Looking at his clawed hands, the partially shed skin, the scales. Fully aware of the sort of effect the events had upon his face, head...Hell his entirely body, yet he still missed Hogwarts.

"I...want to go back..." Harry began, his voice betraying his inner feelings, yet he lift his gaze and looked right at Aiolos, taking note of the hurt look he was receiving, but the boy had made his mind, nothing would change it now.

"But I realize that I can't while looking like this, and even if I could go back to Hogwarts, I know that by the time school ended, I'd be sent to my relatives and that would go so smoothly." Harry finished up, his tone going from morose to downright frigid when mentioning his relatives.

"I'm just going to miss my friends...Ron...Hermione..:Fred...George, Seamus, Dean..."Harry ranted on, pacing nervously at the top of the stairs, oblivious to Aiolos making his way up to him.

"I am truly sorry for your loss of friends." Aiolos whispered quietly when he got up the stairs and pulled Harry into a firm hug, one that was made just that much more special by his hair snaking about to add an extra squeeze into the embrace.

Harry stiffened into the embrace, a pout set on his features when he was squeezed. Yet in an odd way it was a comfortable gesture. The warmth from the man and the pressure around him from the tight embrace, but most of all the amount of sincerity Harry could almost smell coming off of Aiolos.

"Should probably go tot he bath, huh?...wouldn't want to go out looking like I just fought an octopus" Harry finally wheezed out and gave a slight wiggle to indicate his willingness to be let go.

"Indeed so Harry." Aiolos said with a nod as he let go of the boy and straightened up.

Taking Harry to a room, the very one that Aiolos had cleared of the previous furniture in preparation for the boys arrival. Guiding Harry over to the en suite connected to the room, all the while telling Harry about his room and that the boy had freedom to choose whatever decorations he so wished.

The room was located in the left wing of the house, in the second floor. Connecting to the room were the en suite, a walk-in closet and a double door leading out to the balcony over-looking the backyard, with only a pair of thin, white curtains covering the large windows.

Instructing Harry in how to set the bath and where to find himself a towel before the man headed out to give the boy his privacy, and to fetch them some new clothes.


	4. Shopping spree

_Without hurry Aiolos took his time washing his face and getting new clothes, for for himself and Harry. Deciding on re-sizing the clothes he had chosen for the boy to wear once they were on to make sure they fit properly on the first go, it wouldn't do to take himself to the edges of magical exhaustion, again._

Aiolos walked down the long corridor, his feet making soft taps against the stone floor. White robes pillowed behind the man in a playful way with each motion of the man's body. The ends of the blood-red sash that was tied around his waist, swinging lazily with each step.

With the hood of his robes down the Snakes had pulled up, only to curl and coil into a mass in the vacant hood. Each of the snakes hissing happily while relaxing and enjoying the gentle rocking, something that made Aiolos chuckle quietly as he approached the door to Harry's room.

Standing by the door Aiolos lift his left hand and gently tapped his knuckles against it and waited for a moment before entering when no answer was given. Holding the clothes under his right arm still Aiolos opened the door and stepped in, making his way through the empty room over to the bathroom, where he knocked once more.

When he still heard nothing Aiolos grabbed the handle and turned, sighing in relief when he heard the mechanism click to signal that the door was unlocked and would open. Cracking the door open slightly Aiolos leaned in close, not peeking in yet, even flicking a wayward snake from sneaking a peak in.

"Harry, Are you alright in there?." Aiolos inquired in a soft voice, arching a brow as he heard a brief splash, as if something moved quickly in a container of water.

"Ah..Y-yes, almost done." Harry piped back while splashing his face and rubbing a bit, doing his utmost to avoid the blackened parts of his face to the best of his ability.

"May I come in?." Aiolos asked in the same, calm tone of voice, opening the door up a little more, missing the sneaky, lengthy snake peaking in through the crack, wiggling itself to pop it's small head into the room to see.

"Uhh..You kinda did already." Harry said once he took notice of the small, black head of a snake popping up from the crack of the door, chuckling softly when he heard the strange man curse at his hair

Aiolos opened the door enough to slip in himself, before closing it behind himself. Laying the clothes down onto the edge of the sink before grouching down to tug out a large, red towel from the cabinet beneath the sink and setting it next to the clothes.

"I'm terribly sorry for this ones rude behavior, but I assure you, that I do not share sight with them." Aiolos stated firmly, while he reached his head in and tugged the wayward snake over to show, although the reprimand seemed to go onto deaf ears judging from the quiet cackle coming from the snake.

"It's ok, I wasn't doing anything bad in here." Harry assured, nodding vigorously while he huddled in the end of the tub, averting his gaze from the surface of the water, lest he catch sight of his own reflection from the smooth surface.

Wouldn't matter even if you were little one." Aiolos announced matter-of-factly, flicking his left hand in a dismissive gesture as he unfolded the towel and draped it over his right arm.

Aiolos tilted his head slightly as he observed the boy flinch from the smoothing surface of the water, doing anything he could to keep it rippling slightly. Moving close to the edge of the tub before kneeling down next to it. Without saying anything Aiolos summoned his wand, the old, signed object appearing on the man's outstretched right hand escorted by a crack.

"We should probably glamour you for our trip to the stores, yes?" Aiolos mused aloud, smiling the whole way, just to appear like he wasn't aware of the terror Harry was inflicting upon himself from how he looked now.

Harry perked-up instantly at the offer, nodding his head as he crept close, splashing some water in doing so. Once Aiolos had the excited boy settled down again he whispered the words and wove the magic, doing his best to consume as little power as he could, while making the glamour as solid as possible.

"There, have a look." Aiolos said after he had spoken the final word of the incantation and withdrawing his wand and setting it in his pocket.

Harry get out of the tub, waiting only for a moment while Aiolos draped the large towel over his shoulders before venturing over to the mirror. After wiping away the fog that had formed, Harry blinked a couple of times as he took in his appearance. The blackened parts were hidden from sight, replaced by flesh of the same tone as he normally was. His head was covered by a full head of hair, unruly, yet styled so, instead of the usual rats nest the boy was plagued with.

All of that was pushed aside upon the revelation that his forehead was completely smooth. No scar, no nothing but pale flesh. Reaching his hand up to run tentative fingertips along where the bothersome mark had been, Harry was delighted to feel nothing but smoothness, even though he knew that it was still there, waiting beneath the glamour.

"This is amazing...I haven't liked watching into mirrors this much since...ever, really." Harry announced happily as he stepped away from the mirror and turned to the mysterious, yet kind stranger.

In a leap or two Harry shortened the distance between himself and Aiolos considerably and wrapped his arms tight around the man in a hug of gratitude. The man in question was taken aback slightly, but he still chuckled lightly and moved his left hand over to place it gently on the top of the boys head while his right arm moved to loosely return to the embrace he was given.

"Think nothing of it, it was the least that I could do." Aiolos said as he pulled back, ignoring the slight dampness at the front of his robes where Harry had pressed his head on.

"But how about you finish drying up and put on the new clothes, they will be far too big for you as it is, but once you're done I'll come and shrink them for you, alright?" Aiolos said with a nod, giving the wet head of hair one last ruffling stroke before stepping away completely.

Harry nodded eagerly, still elated from looking normal, nothing to set him apart from the rest of the people around him, a sort of a fresh start. When Aiolos left the room and shut the door behind himself, Harry went about drying himself up and getting himself into the new clothes.

Ten minutes later found Harry shuffling down the stairs wearing the outfit he had been given. A pair of white cotton pants, thin and light to wear to allow air to travel, but not thin enough to permit seeing what was beneath. A plain white t-shirt covered the torso, although with the size of the article Harry could of almost worn it as a tunic and none would of been any the wiser for it.. The pant-legs were tightly bundled at Harry's ankles in an effort to keep them from tripping the boy up.

"Ah, there you are, now allow me." Aiolos called from the bottom of the stairs, looking like he was about to head upstairs to check on Harry again, a small smile tugging at the corners of the mans lip while a scaled brow arched a little as his eyes traveled along the form of the teen.

Harry shuffled down, so hew as a couple of stairs away from Aiolos and stopped there when instructed. Unfurling the pant-legs, and making sure he didn't stand on them by accident, Harry spread his arms out at his sides and waited while Aiolos worked on the clothes.

A few flicks of the wand and a short incantation later Harry found the clothes pulling close as they re-sized to fit almost perfectly around his smaller form. Running his hands along his sides, smoothing out the shirt and moving his legs about Harry tested that the clothes fit before hopping down onto the floor.

From then on Aiolos led the way to the kitchen, telling Harry that whatever he would think of needing, they would get, and that if Harry thought of anything that should be purchased, he should just say so and Aiolos would see about it.

After a quick snack and some idle chatting Aiolos and Harry made their way out, only stopping by the front door to get themselves some shoes, Aiolos once more shrinking a pair for Harry to wear.

"So, what should we get first?...Do you want a new wand? Clothes? Furniture for your room?" Aiolos inquired as they stepped outside, starting their journey down the grovel-stone path towards the gates.

"Hmm...Kinda hard to pick, but let's see which one pops up first, yes?" Harry replied, smiling up at the man.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Aiolos exclaimed cheerily, his right arm thrust up with the index finger pointing skyward.

"Just one thing before we leave the wards..:While I don't know how the extrication of Thena's presence from you has affected you so far, I have to advise you to refrain from looking at anyone in the eyes, just to be on the safe side." Aiolos said as they got to the edge of the wards, the ornate gate standing before them.

Harry looked up again, furrowing his brows while he watched Aiolos pulling out his wand and conjuring himself a blindfold, to cover his own eyes with. It didn't take much ot a genius to figure out, that since he was being plagued by the Basilisk's magic, that there was a chance that he might cause harm if he were to look someone in the eyes, a disturbing thought in itself.

"Can you make me a blindfold too?..." Harry inquired quietly, kicking at the grovel slightly, his gaze nailed to the ground.

"But how will you see, what you're going to get or where you're going?." Aiolos returned the question, but even as he did so he was already conjuring a thin, white blindfold for the boy.

"I'll just hold your hand while we're moving and sneak a peek at the things, this way we can just claim that it's a quirk of mine to go about blindfolded." Harry offered, looking up at Aiolos again, his smile returning to his face once more when he saw the cloth being offered to him.

"We will be quirky together then." Aiolos chuckled aloud, and for emphasis'sake he reached his right hand up to tap at the cloth over his own eyes, before offering the hand to Harry to take once he'd finished with covering his eyes.

Harry responded to the declaration with a smile of his own while he reached up and grabbed hold of the appendage offered to him. Stepping out of the wards brought a tingling sensation to course through the boys body, something Aiolos noticed, but chose to ignore for now as he tugged up his hood with his left hand.

The walk down the residential district was a long one, the street lined with various style of buildings ranging from the individual mansions, ones like Aiolos had, to building complexes with several apartments in one. At the end of the winding street there was a large archway, and the bustling and fluidly moving sea of people beyond it were quite enough to rouse the inner Agoraphobic that resides within us all.

"Is that wavering mass over there..is it all people?" Harry asked, sounding more than astonished to find so many a persons in one go, it was ridiculous really.

"Yup, so I think we need to rethink the approach." Aiolos stated flatly, just moments before he dislodged his hand from Harry's.

Before the boy could complain or even ask about the sudden lack of contact, or to even formulate an argument against such a separation Harry felt the mans hand at his sides, right beneath his arms. Gripping firmly Aiolos grouched down only to lift Harry up and off his feet at the same time. Dipping his head forward and standing up at the same time while maneuvering Harry back a bit Aiolos now had the boy sitting safe and sound on his shoulders.

Through the entire operation of lifting and positioning Harry held on firmly to Aiolos'wrists while the rest of him was as stiff as a board. Only really relaxing once he felt Aiolos moving his arms down to snap firmly around his dangling legs.

"Alrighty then, let's get this party on the roar." Aiolos exclaimed happily as he began to walk again.

"You can put me down tough...I'll be fine walking by myself." Harry complained from his perch, but even as he did so his hands held on firmly to the top of Aiolos'head, delighting in the wiggling feeling beneath the hood as the serpents moved, although the feeling of them wiggling between his thighs while they positioned themselves as not to be so squished, was a far more of an odd feeling.

"Nope, I might be tall, but even I can't see properly over the mass of people, so you can perch up there and point of any sort of boutique that tickles your fancy." Aiolos stated as a matter of factly as one can. His lips stretched into a small smile.

Harry sighed in defeat and just simply let himself be carried about, not that he really had anything against it really. Being up so high reminded the boy of flying, the freedom to soar through the air while the wind swept and howled, such a relaxing feeling all in all.

Daring to reach his right hand up Harry lifted the blindfold on him a little to expose his right eye, just to better see the different shops and booths when something caught his eyes, a lone glint in the light. Quickly pointing it out to his "steed of choice" Harry couldn't stop the delighted laughter from erupting from him even if he had wanted to when said "steed" decided to practically run and hop over there. Sliding past people effortlessly, although the many dirty looks shot in their way indicated that not everyone appreciated such grace.

Once they got to the door of the shop Aiolos helped Harry down and checked the name of the shop for himself, the sign above read Khazim's Jewelry and Accessories. Following Harry over to the window he grouched down and looked where Harry was looking.

Sitting on a red velvet pillow was a wand holster made of white leather, but decorated with polished, smooth metal that slithered and coiled along the length of it like a snake. Where the wand would be inserted, the open maw of a snake was beautifully carved and set, the tiny blue gems that were its eyes glinting slightly in the light.

"Would you want that?" Aiolos inquired sounding, for all purposes, like he was serious about it too.

"I can't afford it, but it would be nice." Harry replied, a slight undertone of sadness in his voice when he said it.

"Nonsense, I'll get it for you, but only if you promise to take good care of it, yes?" Aiolos said just before he sprang up swiftly, enough so to startle a few of those nearest to them, and took hold of Harry's hand and tugged him along into the store.

"You really shouldn't, I..." Harry began to protest, but a brief glance in his way and a flash of that wicked grin had the boy snapping his jaws shut and pouting.

"Don't worry Harry, this kind of free shopping isn't going to be a habit, you'll learn to work for the things you want, but today, and only today, anything you want...you will get." Aiolos said calmly, stopping at the door to take eye-contact with the boy, and to reach his free hand down to tug the blindfold over Harry's exposed eye once more.

Without further words the duo stepped into the store, taking a while to look at the things on display while waiting for a member of staff to become available for them. In the fifteen minutes that they went about Aiolos and Harry had many a laughs, mostly directed at some of the other more...flashily dressed patrons and their odd assortment of accessories.

After completing their purchase of the holster the two merged into the sea of people anew. Harry once more seated on Aiolos'shoulders while they sailed through the mass hopping from shop to shop.

From then on the day went on smoothly. At some point, probably by the third shop and the sixth person to ask them about it, Aiolos had made a game out of the various explanations for their blindfolds and the odd growth of scales along his face. The explanations ranged from botched transformation spells, to botched Polyjuice potion, to just general hexes and curses, yet all those things had one thing in common. They had been Botched somehow.

It wasn't once or even ten times that Harry had to clutch at his own sides in an effort to hold in his laughter, and each such moment only spurred Aiolos on to make an even bigger spectacle out of it. What with the constant acting and explaining, it was a real wonder that they got anything at all, but as the day began to fade towards the end the duo had managed to get Harry new clothes, some that would fit him when he grew-up some more. They had purchased Harry the basic school supplies, piles upon piles of parchment, as well as notebooks, loads of quills and bottles upon bottles of ink and potions ingredients. They had also purchased just about every piece of furniture that Harry would need, with the exception of the bed which they were going to look at now from a shop specialized in them.

"This is just about the last place for us to look really." Aiolos announced cheerily as he lowered Harry back onto the ground to stand, said boy looking a tad agitated. Who wouldn't be when something as simple as a BED was proving to be a challenge.

"I don't know what was wrong with the beds in the last place, they just...didn't feel right." Harry murmured quietly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and kept his eyes nailed on the ground.

"It's probably some form of creature instinct, most child with an active inheritance might exhibit things like that as their being and magic matures, so don't worry about it, just go with it Harry." Aiolos assured, placing a gentle hand on the boys shoulder.

Looking up at the perpetually smile-laden face of Aiolos left Harry quite unable to really feel annoyed, so he simply puffed-up his chest and straightened his sleeves before turning towards the door.

"After this we will get you a new wand and THEN...We'll go grab a proper lunch, i'm starving." Aiolos said, nodding his head in affirmation to this, while his left hand absentmindedly rubbed over his growling stomach.

Together the two wandered about the rows of beds of all kind, Harry trying some of them only to scowl and hop off when it wasn't comfortable enough, or just didn't feel right. They even shooed away the helpful assistant, claiming that they didn't know what they were looking for, but would know when they found it.

Harry's desperation was growing the more beds they left behind and the less were ahead to look, until it caught his eyes, although naught but a blurry visage through the blindfold.

At the far corner of the room stood a unique looking bed. It stood on no legs, instead it was charmed to hover above a platform. The bed itself was more akin to a nest, with enough width to put even a wider bed to shame. The /nest\ moved slightly on top of the platform, one could tilt it slightly to gain easier access to it, and it moved when the person sleeping in it would move.

It didn't take much of an effort from harry to make his way over to the piece of furniture. Kicking off his shoes and promptly climbing in, scooting along to the center to lay flat on his back. Arms and legs spread out and still having plenty of space to fit four of him in there.

Aiolos arched a brow when Harry just dashed off without a word. Following suit, yet again signaling for the assistant to stay where she was while he went after the wayward child, only to chuckle aloud while he watched the boy clamber up into the odd contraption, yet one look at the content expression, and slowly drooping eyelids, spoke volumes of one thing.

"Found your bed, did you?" Aiolos inquired casually as he stood by the bed with his hips jutted to the right slightly, arms crossed loosely over his chest.

"Mmhmm...so comfy." Harry almost purred from his spot before forcing himself upright.

"Come on then, let's go pay for it before you sleep in it." Aiolos chuckled and leaned forward slightly, opening his arms up for the boy.

Scooping Harry up onto his arms Aiolos debated whether or not to let the boy down. What with the boy looking so very tired all of a sudden, yet with only a single protest from the boy had Aiolos reaching a conclusion and putting Harry down while they went to pay.

There was a slight complication with the purchase. The teller made a mention of that bed being reserved for another, a simple enough issue that was solved by Galleons, enough so to have the staff begin packing it away to be delivered later in the day.

So relaxed had Harry been that he'd forgotten to slide down his blindfold, so it now rested on his forehead, like a bandanna.

From there Harry and Aiolos walked down the busy street, hand in hand just to keep Aiolos from suffering from a neck injury form having to check on Harry constantly. Aiolos led the way down to a wand-maker stopping every now and then as if to listen to something before resuming the walk again. Until eventually they arrived to one located slightly off the main street, the shop cast in shadows for the most part and ignored by all who walked past.

The over all appearance of the outside of the shop wasn't all that welcoming. The paint on the door-frame and window-frames had chipped away for the most part. The sign was tilted and the name had all but vanished from it by now.

If it weren't for the unwavering confidence with which Aiolos headed there, harry would of stopped to at least question the choice of shop, but as it was he followed silently in.

Within the shop there were shelves upon shelves of wand boxes, just like Ollivander's had been. Everything seemed just like at Ollivanders with the exception of the counter and the area behind it, not to mention the person behind the desk.

Behind the desk stood a tall and slim, if not skeletal, figure. It's face mostly hidden behind greasy looking hair, while it's body was covered in the tattered remains of robes. It's long fingered hands rested on top of the counter while Yellow, snake-like eyes peered through the veil of hair.

Thin lips stretched into a grin, showing a row of broken, shattered teeth and if that wasn't enough to have Harry hitting the breaks right at the door, then the sound that came from the being was.

"Welcome ye who haveth found my dwelling in the shadows. How might I assist thee?" The being inquired, it's voice like chalk being dragged across a broad, icy and distant with a hint of an echo and an undertone of growl, a voice from beyond the grave.

"We'd like to acquire a..." Aiolos was cut short by the sharp tug on his arm. Looking back he saw Harry planted firmly at the door, leaning back with all his weight so as not to be moved towards what he perceived as danger.

"What...what the heck is that?!" Harry snapped, tugging on his hand, only to find that Aiolos wasn't letting go of him, not that he'd notice much else since his attention was on the grinning figure behind the counter, hoping that by keeping his eyes on it, he'd be able to keep it from just lunging over.

"Hush now child, you have nothing to fear with me around, as to him." Aiolos spoke while moving himself closer to the boy, grouching down by him and looking over at the being behind the counter, one who wasn't in the least bit offended by the terror he seemed to inspire.

"He is what some Wizards aspire to be, a Lich, or well one in the morphing phase of it. A Lich is a form of undead, a wizard to be specific with great understanding of the forces of death and darkness, and he is an old friend of mine." Aiolos explained, staying calm and still smiling, even though he did glance at the Lich and motioned for him to tone down the creepiness.

Harry blinked a few times looking between Aiolos and the Lich, yet he remained tense.

"Trust in your guardian, I have no interest in visiting harm upon thee." The Lich chuckled from his spot behind the counter, even offering a polite bow of his head to assuage some of the boys fears.

"I, ah...I'm sorry...I was just...uncertain, I haven't met any Liches before." Harry swallowed once and gathered up his Gryffindor bravery and returned to the polite gesture.

"It is quite alright, if it helps any, my name is Aldovar the Forgotten and making wands is my passion." The Lich chuckled again, causing shivers to run down Harry's spine.

"Which is why we're here, to get the best wand for my little one." Aiolos said calmly as he stood up, holding onto Harry's hand still, more so because Harry was still squeezing his so firmly.

"Before we begin with this, you should probably hold onto this Harry." Aiolos said while he fished out of his pocket the small, purple sphere that held Thena and the flames still and offered them to the boy.

Hesitantly Harry took the item, and the moment his hand touched it, he was holding onto it tightly, as if his very being was refusing to be parted from it. The rush of power that surged from that simple thing was enough to rattle the shelves, hell the very store itself slightly. Even the Lich took a step back and braced himself against the force, yet his grin never wavered, if anything it grew wider still.

"This will be my masterpiece, I will never make a wand like this again of this I am certain." The Lich practically purred as he lift his hands and rubbed them together.

Moving swiftly behind his counter he Motioned for Harry and Aiolos to come closer, which the two did while Harry was still reveling in the effects of the gem. With the sort of swiftness that came from years of practice the Lich began piling different things onto the counter. He put down bone and wood, liquids and gems, feathers and hair all of it neatly set on the wood and easily accessed.

"Now Harry, first we will listen to thine heart. Close thine eyes and focus on what is your hearts true desire." The Lich instructed, sounding, and looking, like he was back to being a mortal and a teen-ager excited about...something.

Harry glanced over to Aiolos who merely nodded and smiled, slowly prying his hand away from harry's, just so there wouldn't be any mix-ups. With a deep inhale Harry steeled himself and closed his eyes, trusting in Aiolos to keep the Lich from doing anything and then focused. For a while he saw nothing but darkness, but that was until he stopped thinking about it.

Before his mind's eye flashed a pair of red eyes and pair of Sharp fangs. So sudden had the image been that Harry stepped back and gasped, looking about frantically. It wasn't until Aiolos grasped his shoulder that Harry stopped looking around for a danger that was not present, well not what he'd supposedly seen.

"What did you see Harry." Aiolos murmured softly, keeping his hand on Harry's shoulder to still the boy.

"I...I saw a pair of glowing red eyes and Fangs, sharp ones." Harry explained, reaching his left hand up to rub his temple.

"Red eyes and sharp fangs, hmm...Try if this brings you a sense of familiarity." Alvador said while he moved behind his counter and brought over a vial that contained some sort of red liquid.

Harry reached for the bottle and tentatively took hold of it. Once Alvador let go of it, Harry was overcome by just the feeling that he had been described so he nodded and handed the vial back for the Lich, who put it aside.

"Next is thine soul, once more close thine eyes, but this time let thine soul guide you to that which associates with it." Alvador instructed while still practically vibrating with glee.

Once more Harry closed his eyes and held his breath, waiting for his "soul" to speak to him. A moment later Harry saw it as clear as day. A majestic red dragon stood there, as if posing to him. It's limbs were strong, claws sharp and wings that blocked out the sun. The horns on it's head beautiful curved as they reached back. Each scale on it's body glinting in an unseen light. Yet most stunning were it's eyes, like a pair of Opals, they were a shade of radiant gold.

Once more harry opened his eyes, looking as bewildered by the sight as he had felt, eagerly telling both Aiolos and Alvador of what he had seen. For a while the Lich seemed at a loss, looking through the various items, handing over several pieces of one and wood, even some stones without results.

"This is most...peculiar..."Alvador said while rubbing his chin with his left hand.

"What is?" Aiolos inquired sharply, not liking this sort of development at all, after all Alvador was the best there was around here, or for most places for that matter.

"It seems that the material for his wand is Dragonbone, and not just any, but freely given at that, I've made a wand with it just once before." Alvador contemplated, flicking his hand dismissively before turning his attention onto Harry.

"Reach out with your magic, let it flow freely, let it reach out as far as it needs to, for it is the only way that we can acquire the material you need, if it was meant to be so." Alvador said, pointing his bony index finger at Harry, much to the boys annoyance.

Frowning slightly Harry did as he was told and once more closed his eyes, but this time he just relaxed and let his magic go. For a while the whole interior of the shop was overflowing with magic that had no focus. Robes pillowed and whipped about, the shelves rattled and some wands fell down onto the floor. The only reason the items on the counter weren't blown away by the ethereal winds was the Liches own magic that anchored them down firmly.

 _ _All that he could see was darkness, but not the kind you see when you close your eyes, it was more like there was nothing there to be seen. Harry looked around and everywhere he looked the same scenery of blackness surrounded him. Yet when Harry looked down and brought his hands into view, he could see them just fine, a peculiar thing considering the lack of anything else around him. There was another thing surrounding him as well, one that made itself more prominent with each passing moment.__

 _ _Warmth, like he was standing at the edge of the heating effect of a campfire, one that he was steadily approaching. Slowly the warmth built, until it was just heat, like he was just a step too close to the aforementioned campfire, all without even taking a single step forward. As the feeling of heat built to it's zenith two things happened at once.__

 _ _A low rumbling growl, a warning of sorts, echoed all around him just as bright red light burst from beneath him, forming cracks in the blackness that spread out, like the cracks on a broken glass before it would give way.__

 _"_ _ _Who dares disturb me." A low, rumbling voice called out, the sound shooting straight through Harry who stood still, paralyzed.__

 _ _Suddenly there was a loud thump and the cracked "ground" jumped upwards, but did not give way to whatever it was that was trying to push through. Another thump and the ground broke. From the glowing red hole a massive paw, covered in red scales, reached out and slammed down onto the ground. Massive claws sunk easily into the blackness as the being began dragging itself up.__

 _ _Another paw burst through the ground and grabbed hold, followed by a third appendage. A long snout, covered in the same kind of scales as the two paws, burst forward, sending shards of red-rimmed blackness scattering about.__

 _ _Growling deeply the being, the red dragon that Harry had "seen" before, dragging itself up into the blackness where Harry had found himself. When it was finally fully standing there in all it's glory it looked around.__

 _ _Golden eyes glowed brightly as it looked around. Nostrils flared with each deep inhale while it tried scenting out the intruder, the disturbance.__

 _"_ _ _Come out, come out wherever you are...It is pointless to hide here, when you've so rudely, if not clumsily, attacked me." The dragon said, his voice dropping lower and the natural vibrancy that it carried made it sound like he was almost purring while he looked.__

 _ _Through all this Harry remained still, petrified in place by the fact that a colossal dragon was looking for him, and that HE had somehow attacked IT?!. Yet try as he might Harry couldn't move, sure his arms moved, he could see that, but no matter how he tried his legs wouldn't budge an inch from where they were planted.__

 _ _During his search of the intruder the dragon turned, for a moment, sideways to the terrified boy, giving him quite a view of his profile.__

 _ _The dragon had a long, and thick neck that was naturally curved up. The dragons chest was wide, as were it's front legs, all equally muscular beneath the tough hide of scales. Following the line along towards the midsection one could clearly see the body slimming out slightly, just enough to add a curve, but not enough to make it seem pear-shaped. Covering the dragons back were a pair of massive, leathery wings, folded in three to fit neatly against the beings back, yet twitching every now and again as if akin to spread out to their fullest.__

 _ _Crowning the head of the beast were four horns, one smaller pair and one larger. The larger pair grew out near the back of the head, first following the shape of the skull before fanning out slightly, only to return to curve back so that the points nearly met. The smaller pair drew down, curling slowly, following the arch of the lower-jaw, before growing straight following the line of the jaw, and stopping when they reached halfway along it.__

 _ _Lastly there were the hindlegs and tail, both proportional to the front, with the exception to the tail that snaked along the ground when the dragon moved. The tailw as long and rapidly thinned down towards the tip, even though at it's slimmest it was still thicker than the arm of most men.__

 _ _Covering the dragon's body were red scales all through, with the exception of around it's underside. The underside of the dragon was covered in, what appeared to be, black scales, starting from the lower jaw and reaching all the way down to the base of the tail.__

 _"_ _ _COME OUT!...I know you're here, I can smell you all around me, and your scent has me curious for I have smelled it before." The dragon crooned, turning his head this way and that as he did.__

 _"_ _ _How could you have smelled me before?" Harry suddenly piped up, and immediately brought his hands up and over his mouth. WHY had he done such a foolish thing?! He hadn't meant to!__

 _"_ _ _There yo..." The dragons head snapped straight to look where Harry's voice had come from as if the boy had just been revealed to him.__

 _ _The grin that had been upon the dragons maw faltered just as swiftly as the words died at it's lips. Golden eyes blinked rapidly, as if trying to rid their bearer of an illusion. When Harry, or the visage of the boy, wouldn't vanish the dragon reared back, it's wings opening up to their fullest.__

 _"_ _ _This can't be...You can't really be here after all this time." The dragon snapped, sounding both relieved and panicked at the same time. A pair of feeling one could clearly see within those golden eyes.__

 _ _Suddenly the dragon lunged forward, reaching it's right front paw forward to grab at Harry, causing the boy to flinch and try and get away, only to realize one more, that he couldn't move. The paw came closer and closer and when it would of made contact and grabbed the helpless boy, it went right through, not so much as a brush of contact was felt by either.__

 _ _Harry looked at himself, not a scratch on him. The dragons looked at his empty paw and then at the boy, growling again as he backed away, with his tial lashing out in annoyance__

 _"_ _ _You're naught but a trick played by my aching hearts, I should of known." The dragon snarled. Sure he sounded angry, but not at Harry by any means, but more so at himself.__

 _"_ _ _I don't know what you're talking about. I am quite real...although I don't think that I am here...not really." Harry interjected, not liking one bit that him being real was put to the question by anyone, that and the dragon seemed unable to harm him, or he would of done so by now.__

 _"_ _ _If you are real, then how are you HERE. For if you were real and HERE then I would have no problems in holding you." The dragon snapped back, puffing out a cloud of smoke.__

 _"_ _ _I don't even know where here is, I was just doing what I was told...to let my magic reach out to find the dragon who's bone, freely given, would become my wand." Harry stated flatly, only to smack his hand over his mouth again. What's with him and spilling every single fact out loud now!__

 _"_ _ _Wand?...Magic? You're a Wizard...then that means..." The dragon murmured, more to himself than to Harry. Golden eyes looked around, really looked without the haze of hunting clouding his perception.__

 _"_ _ _I see. This isn't a real place at all, neither of us are really here so that means..." The dragon crooned yet leaving his meaning unexplained, his maw once more adorning the grin it had before.__

 _ _Slowly the dragon laid made his way over to the boy, only to lay down near by. Front legs crossing in front of him so that the beast could bring his head down to rest on them, to better be at an eye-level with the wizard, quite effectively quieting any and all questions that Harry might of had regarding the last statement.__

 _"_ _ _So, you want my bone, you may have it, if only you give me your name, Mehn looveyd" The dragon purred, actually purred this time, his golden eyes flashing, their glow illuminating Harry, nearly blinding the boy.__

 _"_ _ _My...my name?" Harry inquired, sounding quite unsure now, that he was within touching range of the dragon, his illusion of invulnerability suddenly melting beneath the intense gaze of those golden eyes.__

 _"_ _ _Yes, only your name I wish to know Mehn Looveyd, will you not grant me this little boon? Or will you have me beg for it?" The dragon purred, sliding his head forward slightly, almost touching Harry now. His hot breath washing over the boy, without ever touching him.__

 _"_ _ _Harry blinked, dumbfounded at the dragons sudden change in demeanor. While he found it much more appealing than before, he was still...Hold the though, had the Dragon just offered to beg? Now there was a concept that Harry didn't think he'd live to witness.__

 _"_ _ _Well...If you...can beg, not that you have to! But if you can...I would...like to see it" Harry said, his gaze alternating between looking back at the dragon and his own twisting hands.__

 _ _The reaction that Harry gained from his request was another surprise in itself. The dragon was suddenly laughing, his booming voice echoing all around as he pushed himself up to a sitting position.__

 _"_ _ _I have never begged in my life!" The dragon roared out, wings spreading to their fullest again as he puffed his chest out, very much like an arrogant dragon was expected to, even as it caused Harry to flinch anew.__

 _"_ _ _But for you...I would move Heaven and Earth." The dragon crooned softly, looking down at the boy.__

 _ _Suddenly the dragon flopped, quite unceremoniously so, onto his side on the ground and twisted his body so he was on his back. Curling his front legs against his chest for effect, while his tail flicked from side to side. Yet the biggest impact came from his eyes, once he turned their ethereal glow upon his intended. Once vibrant and glowing gold, they now changed color to a flawless blue, clear as water and radiant in their internal glow.__

 _ _Harry was blinking again, like an owl caught unaware, at the sight. Slowly a smile formed on his lips, then came a laughter, a steady steam of it to fill the cracked darkness in which they stood. Here was a colossal dragon rolled over onto his back like a dog, giving him the puppy eyes of epic proportions, how could he not warm-up to that?__

 _"_ _ _Alright, alright! Enough...My name is Harry..." The boy said after his fit of laughter had died down.__

 _ _At first the dragon had felt quite offended at being smiled at, but such feelings were quickly crushed by the sound of that innocent, bubbly laughter as it echoed through the place. Rolling himself back onto his front, shaking himself out of habit, the dragon watched, and listened to the boy delight in the act.__

 _"_ _ _Harry...such a lovely name." The dragon purred softly, putting emphasis on each letter. From the soft sigh of the H, the low yawn of the A, riding the rumble of the double-R and ending in the quiet whisper of the Y.__

 _ _The way that the dragon had said his name had Harry's skin crawling, and not in a bad way either. Harry watched the dragon lift his paw up and felt along his horns, until finally he grabbed the tip of the left one. With an audible clink the horn was broken, the removed piece floating on the dragons paw.__

 _"_ _ _None of my brethren will dare touch you, for as long as you wield the wand made of this. No fire will ever burn you for that is the will of Deimos the Lord of Fire. That is my will, and this is a gift for Mehn Looveyd, Harry." The dragons voice echoed within the darkness, filled with authority and power.__

 _ _Bringing his paw down close to Harry, so he could grab the piece of his horn. The piece of black bone was the length of Harry's forearm and straight, with a slight twist along it, like the two ends of the bone had been held and twisted in opposite direction to create slight spiraling.__

 _ _Hesitantly Harry reached out to claim the piece of bone. As his finger wrapped around the base of it, he felt warmth rush through his entire being. It was comfortable in an odd way, like a long hug from someone important and precious to you.__

 _"_ _ _Thank you Deimos" Said Harry once he had pulled the horn to himself, cradling it against his chest without even fully realizing it.__

 _"_ _ _You are welcome mehn Looveyd." Deimos purred softly, his golden eyes flashing softly as they watched the boy.__

 _"_ _ _Could you tell me what that means?.,...that..Men loovid, that you've been repeating." Harry asked, looking up into the dragons eyes.__

 _ _To hear those words, even though butchered by lack of understanding and familiarity with the language, had the dragons entire body quivering visibly. A low, satisfied growl echoed from the majestic beast as his wings opened, a sign that the being was clearly satisfied.__

 _ _Yet want as he might to answer the boys question, the fact that the ghostly image of the boy was beginning to flicker and wane, suggesting that Harry was fast approaching his limit for safely upholding such a connection as this. Lowering his head to take one last closer look at his intended Deimos smiled and blew a gust of warm air over the ghostly image.__

 _"_ _ _That is a story for another time, for you are at the limits of your power." Deimos said, his words a mere hushed whisper to Harry.__

 _"_ _ _Rest assured that I will find you eventually, but until then I shall meet with you in your dreams, to better get to know you, and you to I, so with a heavy heart I will send you away now." Deimos went on, ending his speech with a deem inhale, just to get that one last fill of the faint scent of the boy.__

 _ _Sitting upright the Dragons wings opened to their fullest and the dragon lift his head high, drawing in a deep breath.__

 _ _As Deimos did this, Harry watched as a bright red glow began to grow within the beings chest, slowly growing stronger until he couldn't see the black scales anymore. Deimos moved his head again, looking right at Harry, who was still clinging to the piece of horn, a smile tugging at the corners of the beasts lips.__

 _ _Parting his jaws, flames bursting out from between his teeth as he did so, Deimos let the held breath go to wash over Harry.__

 _ _Instinct told Harry to duck and cover before the dragon could unleash the torrents of fire upon him, yet something held him from reacting. Something held him standing there, not flinching or blinking, welcoming what was to come. Even as he had a million questions, more so from the crypticness of what Deimos had said a moment ago, Harry watched as those jaws opened and flames flicked out.__

 _ _Yet there were no flames, no burning no nothing of the sort, there was only warmth and the scent of ash washing over him. Not a moment later, after the initial touch of the dragons breath on him, that Harry noticed his vision blurring and a familiar tugging sensation at his navel as he was cast away from where he was.__

 _"_ _ _Stay safe mehn Looveyd, for I will eagerly await for the next time you dream so that I may see you again." Were the last words whispered to Harry's mind before the dream-like state ended and reality took it's place.__

For what seemed like an age Harry held himself under the pressure of letting his magic have free reign, until he felt something snap. Suddenly the winds died down and Harry just stood there with his eyes open and glowing faintly.

Before Aiolos could step in and even touch Harry to rouse him from his trance, Alvador brought a bony, firm hand onto his friends shoulder to stop him, explaining that where-ever the Dragon who's bone was needed was Harry needed to establish and maintain a connection with it to gain what he needed. Alvador also warned that any who would intervene in such a delicate situation would suffer the wrath of magic, the caster and the anchor alike, so they had no choice but to wait for now.

Whatever happened in the five minutes that followed Harry didn't speak of when he came back to himself, only saying that he'd been forbidden from sharing the experience until such a time that they would meet in person. The fretting from Aiolos was brought to a halt by the sudden appearance twisted piece of black material just appearing in Harry's hands.

The material was entirely black and smooth, even the place where it had apparently been broken off, or cut off, held no markings of any kind. A fact that Alvador appreciated greatly, judging from the semi-maniacal cackle that came from him when the item was given to him.

"One last thing to acquire then, one that I believe only someone like little mister Harry would need for the kind of power he is undoubtedly going to have at his disposal." Alvador cackled as he shuffled to the backroom to fetch something.

Upon his return the Lich had a box in his hand. A simple looking black wooden box with nothing remarkable on it, yet the Lich held onto it like his very existence depended on it. Carefully he set the box down on the counter and opened it. Inside the box were six stones, all different shapes and colors sitting on a red silken pillow.

"I want to gift you with one of these, think not of what they are, for I will tell thee what the one that you choose is." Alvador stated as he gestured to the stones that glinted in their places.

Harry looked over to Aiolos for a moment, still holding the piece of bone tightly against his chest. Aiolos merely shrugged, demonstrating his complete lack of knowledge of what was going on. After a while of debating with himself Harry approached the eager Lich and his wares, looking at the stones one at a time, until his eyes landed on the last one.

This one was a beautiful stone cut in the shape of an Oval. It had a black dot in the center of it, while the rest had intricate patterns within it, and where-ever light reflected onto it, it made the stone shine differently, making it impossible to determine just what the stones actual color was. Harry watched at the stone for a while, his head tilting this way and that t make the colors dance on it's smooth surface, until he eventually pointed it out.

"Ah...the eye of a phoenix, funny that you should choose that, especially since the core of your wand is Vampire blood and your wand itself is dragon-bone that is freely given, extraordinary indeed." Alvador mused aloud as he removed the stone carefully from it's resting place, silencing any further questions with a flick of his hand.

"Now bring me the bone and I will craft you a wand like no other, I will pour out every single bit of knowledge I have to make this the wand of wands." Alvador declared after shutting the lid of the box before moving over to place the stone next to the previously picked vial.

Harry frowned deeply by now, he felt like he was being brushed aside and prevented from asking questions, yet he was here at the mercy of others so what other choice did he have, but to obey?. Frowning as he went Harry put the piece of bone onto the table, only to blink in surprise as the wood began to darken and smoke around it.

Looking at his hand Harry couldn't believe that the thing was that hot, it hadn't felt that hot in his hand, if anything it had felt pleasantly warm while he held it and he wasn't the only one surprised by this. Aiolos had moved in closer, his hand now resting on Harry's shoulder while the other held a wand at the ready. Harry could feel one of Aiolos'snakes slithering out from the mans sleeve to inspect his hand, and he let it so the man didn't need to stress over his well-being so.

Alvador cursed slightly at the fate of his counter top, but thankfully he had something that'd more than make up for a singed counter top. Looking at the three items there Alvador brought his hands up and rubbed them together. As Alvador pulled his hands apart there were visible arc's of raw magic crackling between each digit, and the air in the shop began to humm as the Liche's power awakened.

All Harry could do was watch as one by one the ingredients for his wand began to levitate off the ground and slowly circle one another.


	5. Dreams and Nightmares

_The items spun and twirled in the air, with the two smaller items circling around the piece of the dragons horn. After a while the vial opened and the liquid within snaked out before the container was discarded from the swirls of magic. Twisting and curling in the air the liquid seemed to get a feel of the bone._

 _Alvador moved his hands in a wide circular motion above and beneath the floating items. The red liquid pulled together, bubbling and twisting as it shrunk into itself, only to stretch out into a long and narrow crystal. Once more Alvador moved his hands along the length of the bone, as magic crackled from the tips of the undeads fingers, mixing in with the powers of the ingredients, coaxing them to meld together._

 _The red shard floated lazily around the bone, slowly drawing in closer to it. Upon the initial touch of bone and crystal there was a mild shock-wave, one powerful enough to rattle the shelves and jar Aiolos into moving in closer to Harry with his own wand out and at the ready while his eyes remained fixed on the scene unfolding before them._

 _One more swipe of bony hands, a crackle of raw magic later and the crystal sank into the bone as if it were liquid. As the two pieces melded together the length of bone flipped around so it now stood on it's point, the air around it wavering was shadows reached up from all around it following the motions of the liches hands. Said lich narrowing his eyes as he watched, and felt the air and shadows waver around the wand-in-the-making, but still he kept pouring his magic out to bend and mold the materials only to regret it a moment later._

 _It could of taken moments longer or even decades, and yet none of the three men within the shop could of been prepared for when the wand suddenly burst in flames and lashing shadows. The initial burst caught the liches hands and burnt the decaying flesh clean off, leaving naught but blackened bone in their wake._

 _The shadows lashed out like blades, further fraying the front of Alvador's robes as they went. A stray flicker of flame, or so Aiolos presumed it to be, shot out towards him and Harry, only to be repelled by a quick flick of Aiolos'wand, deflected to the side to leave a burnt spot on the floor._

 _Harry watched, completely mesmerized by the spectacle, as Alvador grit his teeth to bear with the creation, yet never did the undeads expression of utmost glee waver or flicker in the least, even as his flesh was burnt and clothes frayed._

 _Only when the flash of fire was diverted did Harry snap out of his pseudo-trance, his emerald-colored eyes turning up to glance at the man next to him taking in the thin line into which the mans lips had turned, the obvious twitching at the mans jaw as he stood ready to keep the teen from harms way._

 _The flames and shadows danced still like a chaotic tornado, the roar of the flames almost deafening, the shadows forming different shapes within the swirl of destruction. Another set of gestures, a quietly murmured incantation and a crackle of magic had the Phoenix eye stone darting into the flames to zig and zag along the length of bone, as if in search of where to settle._

 _Circling around the wider base of the bone the stone stopped in it's frantic motions, merely spinning there idly before raising up to press against the base. The flames and shadows burst once more as they began pulling and twisting at the bone and stone, working at creating a socket for the stone and shaping said stone to fit perfectly._

 _When the stone was set the flames and shadows began swirling rapidly around the bone, pressing in close to it forcing it into shape._ _When the spiralling fire's and darkness finally vanished, just as suddenly as they had burst out, the fully finished wand was left to hover half a foot above the counter._

 _The previously curved and twisted piece of bone was now straight as an arrow with a sharp tip that gradually widened towards the base, but even at it's thickest it was only about the width of a thumb._

 _Right above the handle there was a carving of a dragon's head, with it's jaws clenched down on the shaft of the want. The carving had a pair of majestic horns crowning it's head, reaching an inch back towards the handle with one of the horns slightly shorter, almost as if it had been broken. The smooth handle of the wand was narrower at both ends and slightly thicker at the center before shrinking down to the very end._

 _At the end of the wand the multi-colored gem glinted in the light, securely held in place by a taloned paw of sorts, one that was far too delicate to belong to a dragon, perhaps a bird of some sort, but that was beside the point._

 _All three watched as the eighteen and a half inch long piece of polished, smooth bone and glinting jewel hovered in place, all of them able to feel the power flowing through the instrument all on it's own, but onyl one of them could hear the whispered call coming from it._

 _Alvador rubbed his hand's together, the exposed bones grinding against one another as he did so before he reached for the wand, only to halt suddenly, the undeads eyes going from sickly yellow to murky for a moment before the being pulled back, or more so leaped away from the wand thus garnering the attention of Aiolos and harry alike._

 _"_ _Something the matter Alvador..." Aiolos inquired, knitting his brows together beneath the blindfold as he studied the lich, who was running his skeletal hands over his face, releasing a breath that was both unnecessary and unknowingly held._

 _"_ _Y-yeah...I'm just going to feel sorry for the poor bastard who manages to land a disarming spell on thine wee lad." Alvador said after a while, his grin back as he looked over to Harry and gestured for the wand._

 _"_ _Don't worry little one, the wand just will not let anyone else touch it...the dragon you've befriended left a piece of himself behind...TRULY a magnificent surprise."_

 _Harry had taken a step back as the lich recoiled from the wand, watching the two interacting for while before he took a few cautious steps forward, halting when the lich spoke directly to him. Harry stole a glance back at Aiolos, whos till stood tense and at the ready, but did flash that wicked smile of his and gestured for him to go forward._

 _"_ _I am not worried about myself, nowhere near as much as I am about your current state of well-being." Harry announced stiffly as he straightened himself out fully._

 _Upon reaching the counter Harry had to stop for a moment and look at the ominous looking thing that hovered there, waiting for him to claim it, or so it looked like to both Alvador and Aiolos alike while the truth was entirely different.. The closer Harry got to the wand, the clearer the whispered words became, until now within touching range harry could hear them clearly._

 _None of my brethren will dare touch you, for as long as you wield the wand made of this. No fire will ever burn you for that is the will of Deimos the Lord of Fire. That is my will, and this is a gift for Mehn Looveyd, Harry._

 _The phrase spoken when the horn was broken and given. Words spoken without a trace of deceit to be found. The very words that sent a tickling warmth to spread from Harry's core all the way around to the tips of each and every individual thread of hair._

 _With a smile on his face Harry reached for the wand and closed it around the hilt. Where Aiolos had expected a rush of power to surge out along with flames that'd threaten to incinerate the boy, the man felt oddly elated that nothing like it happened. Alvador, on the other hand had no expectations, he was just grinning in glee as he watched and waited for what was to happen, yet when nothing happened the lich couldn't help but to feel a little deflated about it._

 _Harry just kept on smiling, he heard the quietly murmured words for a moment longer before they died out, and as they did something else happened. A calm pulse of magic surged out from the wand, brushing over everything within the store and a moment later three shapes, two of fire and one of shadows, crawled out from the tip of the wand._

 _The first one to take shape was a small, flaming dragon that soared along the length of the wand, circling it calmly while another flaming shape followed it, this one a bird. The last one to emerge, bathed in impenetrable darkness was the figure of a bat that fluttered along behind the dragon and the bird_

 _The trio flew their way down along the length of the wand, spiraling around it all the way to the hand that held it only to glide along it the length of the arm all the way to the shoulder before diving down the length of Harry's torso vanishing into the boys pocket. A short while later brought the re-emergence of the trio, but this time they were mere rings around the purple stone while they levitated it up and towards the wand._

 _Harry watched, once more mesmerized, as the stone was levitated to the wand stopping to hover about half an inch above the snout of the Dragon's head carving. Where the stone hovered the bone began to writhe and slowly pull apart until there was a hole big enough for the stone to levitate right through it_

 _The stone halted when it was in the dead center of the hole and the three rings expanded slightly, splitting off into several more rings in the process. When the rings, or mesh as it now was, touched the bone they solidified almost instantly thus forming a containing mesh of bone around the crystal, keeping it secure with only a hint of it's glow emanating through the tiny holes._

 _"_ _Magnificent! Now little one, try out a spell, any spell will do and we'll see the two of you connect." Alvador instructed from behind the counter, bony arms spread above his head and fingers bent to add to the sort of creepiness surrounding him._

 _"_ _I'm not sure that is wise little one, you've already been through a lot and your reserves are nearly depleted." Aiolos interjected, while reaching his wandless hand out to the boy._

 _"_ _I'll be fine, trust me." Harry said with a smile, flicking his wand carefully, feeling the power within it humm in anticipation, watching as Aiolos halted to consider and eventually nod while remaining at the ready._

 _Harry closed his eyes and went through the spells he knew, trying to pick one that would best work here. His thoughts diverted as he heard the deep baritone of the Dragon he had spoken with earlier talking, he couldn't quite hear what was said, only fragments here and there._

 _Mentions of pain, deformity and anguish were the most prominent words to reach through, but also words of encouragement, affection and restoration, and before the voice could entirely vanish to the aether Harry could make out an incantation echoing in the distance._

 _Opening his eyes and looking at his wand, watching the light glinting off of the smooth surface and the purple glow coming from the cage. Harry drew in a breath and held it for a moment before flicking his wand again to awaken the low hum of power again._

 _"Tui gratia Iovis gratia sit cures" Harry chanted quietly when he released the breath he had been holding, his wand moving in a small sweeping gesture._

 _When the swipe was brought to a finish there was a low thrum of power that swept over the entire store, causing Alvador to chuckle and lean in closer while his sickly eyes remained trained upon the boy. After a while there was another thrum of power, but not from the wand, but rather from all around and where the power had washed out before now it swept back in like a calm wind._

 _Following the wind came a dim, ghastly glow that seeped up from the floor-boards and from beneath Aiolos'clothes. Slowly the wispy tendrils of energy began gathering around Harry, slowly swirling like gentle flames in the wind as they gathered and pooled above Harry's chest for the most part._

 _With only a few wisps of green energy floating about the orb of green began sinking into Harry's chest, beating in tune with the boys heart and with each beat the wisps began slithering in._

 _Through the glamour they went, causing the spell of waver and flicker while they scoped out all the injuries that required healing. While the tendrils of magic slithered and worked a quiet echo of the incantation made itself more noticed with each second. First would come the words that Harry had spoken, but when the teens incantation ended another resume._

 _"_ _Tui gratia lovis, gratia sit cures. Et sanata est , et redditus" Was the entire litany, the two voices mixing and mingling as they echoed through the place with the following incantation was spoken by a deeper voice, one that also held an edge of femininity to it_

 _It wasn't until the incantation could be heard clearly that things took a turn for the worse. As the last wisp of magic sunk through the glamour to begin the process of healing that there was a loud wail of pure agony ripping through the air._

 _Quickly two sets of covered eyes turned to the source of it, only to widen in surprise and shock at what they saw._

 _Behind the counter was Alvador, but instead of his casual grinning self he was now flailing about, knocking items off of the counter and the shelves beneath it as green and blue flames erupted all around him sporadically. The flames burned and tore at the lich, ripping away chunks of flesh that turned to ash before vanishing. Bone chipped where the flames touched them only to be regrown by the undeads own power._

 _Harry was stunned into silence, the spell long since out of his control, he had felt it slip from him just before it became too heavy to handle, and now it was bringing agony to the lich. Wide green eyes looked on in horror at flesh was torn clean off, the boys ears ringing with the tormented shrieks of the injured being._

 _What struck a nerve in Harry to stun so completely, weren't so much the echoing shrieks of agony, but rather what he saw whenever the flames would flicker and burst, casting a shadow onto the wall. Behind the flailing lich, Harry could swear he saw a shadowy figured with horns adorning it's head standing behind the male. Clawed fingers slashing at the lich while talon tipped wings hacked and cut. Wherever claws or talons would strike flames burst out, ripping at the tissue._

 _The sight of two burning forest-green eyes looking right at him made certain that what Harry saw...was not an illusion in any way, yet neither Aiolos nor Alvador seemed to notice it's existence over there. Holding the eye-contact with the figure, Harry could hear a whisper in his mind, this one spoken in flawless parseltongue in the softest most voices ever heard by the teen._

 _You are in danger here...leave now while I can keep this filth at bay...go now...find your Loohveyd..._

 _Aiolos couldn't believe his eyes , for one he couldn't believe Harry to wield that much power to actually harm the lich with a spell meant for healing and second he didn't think that anything could harm the lich in the first place. Taking a quick look at Harry and finding the boy frozen still, seemingly unable to and unwilling to move in the least, Aiolos moved into action to aid his friend._

 _Wand slashing through the air as Aiolos attempted to control the wayward magic to better control the damage before casting a solid body-bind on the flailing lich to better contain him. Stepping back Aiolos flicked and swished his wand, murmuring quietly under his breath, repeating the words Negare Magicae with each motion of his wand._

 _It took Aiolos a moment, but he managed to to extinguish the flames, but at the same time he effectively undid his own spell, which caused the exhausted lich to fall into a heap on the ground where he proceeded to try and gather himself up without the aid of magic, the very force that sustained his physical appearance as a whole._

 _Harry had watched, both in shock and in awe as Aiolos rushed into action. Wand slashing through the air in practiced motions, and that was just about all Harry could see before his vision began to blurr and a sensation of weightlessness over-took him while the world began to tilt to the left. It wasn't until he made contact with the floor, mere seconds before his vision and mind submitted to the lure of exhaustion, that Harry realized that it wasn't the world that was tilting...He had been falling down to crash on the floor._

 _Aiolos turned just in time to see Harry leaning precariously to the side before his knees gave under him, sending the boy towards the ground. With barely enough time to fully turn to Harry and go help the boy, Aiolos had cast his last spell to cushion the fall. Aiolos rushed across the shop, grouching briefly to pick-up the wand as it clattered on the ground._

 _"_ _You foolish little boy! This isn't the way to build any form of trust!" Aiolos half-heartedly scolded the unconscious boy as he knelt down to carefully examine him._

 _It was only after the he had made sure that harry hadn't dislocated anything on his fall, that Aiolos realized that the glamour had been undone, mainly because he could see that lightning bolt scar decorating the boys forehead. Where it had been almost raw-looking before, now the last wisps of magic glowed bright along the edges of the scar, while the mark itself seemed to bubble, as if it were hot tar and not flesh._

 _Making a mental note to have it looked up while he had Harry checked for the effects of Thena's spell-work, Aiolos gently scooped the boy up onto his arms, cradling Harry against hsi chest as he stood up and looked over to the counter where the lich had managed to pull himself up anew._

 _"_ _I'm taking the boy home now and so help me if you EVER pull these kinds of tricks again at the expense of my family..I will end you." Aiolos growled, his entire facial expression speaking volumes about the man's distress and worry, as well as fury._

 _"_ _Duly noted...Until we meet again." Alvador's voice echoed from where he stood, the damaged, sickly yellow orbs that were his eyes glinting with malicious glee as he watched the gorgon and that extraordinary boy of his march out of his store._

 _As the door to the store slammed shut and began melting back into the shadows, Aiolos could hear the maniacal cackling of the lich before he began trudging his way back home. While he walked the gorgon couldn't help, but to blame himself for the events that took place, he should of acted, been more demanding, yet even when he was almost certain that something awful would happen, he had let Harry do what he wanted and had failed to protect the boy._

 _Once Aiolos managed to get them back to the manor safely, he had to stop at the gates to look through the various deliveries and the several attendants standing in wait there. Ignoring their puzzled looks in regards to the unconscious boy in his arms, instead instructing the people to where they should take the items, after promising them a proper compensation for their trouble._

 _After showing the room where the furniture was to be placed, as well as the closet space where the clothes would go and so forth, Aiolos took his leave of the attendants and went to his own room to tuc the boy in. While Harry's room would be fully habitable once the workers got everything down and re-sized the older man felt that it would be best if Harry slept in his room for the night, after all said room was located over a crossing of two streams of natural magic, it'd help the boy regenerate his own depleted magic._

 _"_ _Sleep well little one." Aiolos whispered quietly when he finished with tucking the covers around the sleeping teen._

 _Brushing aside a lock of hair, exposing the scar, which had returned to normal now, Aiolos leaned forward to place a small, chaste kiss on Harry's temple before scooting back and leaving stopping only at the door to take one last look at the teen, shaking his head slightly._

 _Once he had paid for the extra trouble of putting everything away, Aiolos sent the workers on their way, watching them leave through the wards, only then activating them fully to keep unwanted visitors away. With his back against the door Aiolos leaned against it heavily while running his hands over his face, sighing heavily onto them._

 _"_ _No rest for the wicked." Aiolos huffed while pushing himself away from the door and heading upstairs again, his steps heavy with fatigue._

 _Instead of heading off to his room, or any other to catch some shut eye, Aiolos headed off to Harry's room and looked it through, he'd move some things according to how Harry wanted later, but for now he would focus on the bed. Unwrapping a set of sheets, pillows, pillow-covers and blankets and began working from there. The amount of cursing and face-planting one can achieve when making a bed reached an all-time high when it came to this particular one._

 _While Aiolos was very capable of making his own bed, the difference here was HIS bed did not MOVE when he leaned against it to reach for a corner to tuc in. Whenever Aiolos would put any weight to any single point on the bed it would suddenly tilt, thus sending Aiolos face-first into the mattress and naturally the shift in weight made the bed tilt again sending Aiolos tumbling along it for a moment._

 _"_ _AAARGH! You infernal contraption should burn in HELL!" Aiolos shrieked out after the last tumble, the constant giggling and mocking hissing from his hair not helping any._

 _Deciding upon a new approach Aiolos sat himself on the middle of the bed and carefully worked the sheet on it. Once done with that Aiolos prepared the pillows and carefully tossed them to the end of the bed. Next Aiolos grabbed the prepared covers by the corners in one end and moved back to the end of the bed opposite from the pillows. With a few whip-like shakes and a reach later the covers were neatly in place and Aiolos stood there, hands at his hips while he admired his handiwork._

 _em"See wasn't that difficult."/em The longest, white snake hissed from it's perch on the mans shoulder._

 _"_ _Shut up you..." Aiolos huffed, but otherwise remained unmoved by the commentary._

 _With the bed made, and a few of the smaller pieces of furniture moved to a supposedly good location Aiolos moved to the rest of the items. When the toiletries were placed where they belong in the ensuite and clothes arranged within the closet Aiolos took this as a moment to leave the room well-enough alone._

 _Darkness what a soothing balm for a weary mind it was, provided said mind wasn't overflowing with memories of things no-one should ever have to go through at a young age , those plagued with suppressed memories of the past tended to find those very images coming rushing back from all every direction._

 _One such mind now bathed in the turbulent darkness. Everywhere the senses went another shriek or a bellowing shout echoed from the memories that briefly flickered into view as ghostly images, and the longer the darkness continued the more prominent the voices and images became up-to the point where one might as well re-live them in fast forward._

 _The sound of uncle Vernon's voice boomed all around as it spouted endless insult and degrading comments all the while accompanied by the shrill voice of aunt Petunia telling him to do this and that, while never one to actively engage in physical punishment, she did threaten with it quite admirably. The images shifted anew to lonely dark nights spent curled under the stairs in a cupboard with hardly enough space for the cleaning equipment, little alone a growing child. Memories of huddling in the dark, twitching at the sound of a slightest creak of a floorboard, every flicker of light and shadow that made it's way from around the locked door._

 _em"See boy, no one wants you around...you are worthless."/em A distant and gravely voice echoed from somewhere amidst the chorus of insults._

 _"_ _No...My...my friends...they always...the Weasleys..." Harry tried to retort, distracted by his search for the source of the voice._

 _Try as he might Harry could not see anyone out of the ordinary to whom the voice could of belonged to, yet as he turned one last time there was a violent shove at his back that sent the boy falling through the images into a wild spiral of changing scenery._

 _Abruptly the spinning was halted, like a tidal-wave washing over a rocky shore. Once Harry gained his bearings he saw a familiar classroom, one that he always dreaded walking into. The walls were lined with shelves that held various books and jars and pouches, while the middle of the room housed several brewing stations. A horde of familiar faces slid about the image, their ghostly voices carrying the may insults that had been spoken over the years._

 _em"You are a failure of a wizard..."/em The haunting voice spoke again, louder now than it had been. This time Harry felt himself flung off his feet to stumble over to the large cauldron at the end of the classroom well before he could retort to any of the statements._

 _An inky shadow slithered through from the cauldron sitting at the head of the class, reaching up to gather into a twisted image of the dreaded Severus Snape. Those black pits the image had for eyes were nailed onto Harry, pinning him place while deathly pale lips formed words and a booming voice carried them over all other. The image repeated every insult that had ever been heard from the man himself._

 _em"Thoughtless, careless little child putting your friends in harms way."/em The voice mocked again just moments before everything froze into a stand-still, even Harry himself._

 _With a sudden sound of glass shattering the ghostly Snape froze before crumbling to pieces, as did everything else around the boy. In place of the classroom was a recently familiarized room full of wands and crafting material and there behind the counter was the lich, once more writhing under the onslaught of the shadowy figure._

 _Each scream of pain multiplied by a thousand, to a point where they literally hurt to hear. Each swing of a wing and slash of claws accompanied by the sound of bone snapping and flesh ripping only adding to the macabre cacophony of sound. Time and time again the lich was made whole, only to be torn asunder by the horned, devilish being made out of darkness and green mist._

 _"_ _Stop! Please stop!..." Harry pleaded from the ghostly images that floated around him. Meeting their hateful and resenting gazes where-ever he looked. Blissfully unaware of the ripples his distress was sending out through the veil of reality._

 _When it all became too much to handle, what with the cacophony of insults and the spinning, Harry collapsed onto the ground and instantly curled into a ball with his eyes closed tight. Meanwhile, his hands went to cover his ears to hopefully silence the voices._

 _It wasn't until Harry heard himself sob quietly that he moved his hands down, only to find himself moving forward. In hopes of finding out what was going on Harry opened his eyes, only to find himself face to face with the ghost of the almost-headless Nick and through him Harry could see the poor Creevey kid, both now frozen still._

 _em"Open your eyes, witness the unmatched superiority of an ancient being."/em The voice called out, a certain air of command seeping into every word._

 _Without his want or will Harry felt his eyes opening again to reveal new horrors, or so he thought. Harry was relieved to find no-one looking right at him, if only that joy would of lasted. A moment later there was a heavy thud from some distance away and Harry was met with the horror of Hermione falling on her side petrified like the others._

 _The shock of the revelation had Harry closing his eyes tight again, refusing to open them again. This time when Harry's eyes closed there were no insults or mockery from the voice, only a stone-cold cackle that echoed in the void. Yet as the nightmare would have it, he opened them again to find himself in the musty chamber of secrets once more._

 _em"Right here and now, I will succeed in what I did not before, but instead of a pathetic second-grade witch, I will have you for a new body."/em The voice stated calmly, just before the ghostly image of Tom Valedro, the younger one from his memories, walked into Harry's field of vision. In that instant Harry had to bring his left hand up to cover his forehead as a shot of searing pain shot thought it._

 _The sight of the man had Harry's blood freezing in his veins, his heart beating like it wanted to burst through the boys rib-cage. The malicious grin tugging at the corners of those thin lips, the wicked red glow within those eyes that kept looking right at him._

 _Harry laid on his back with his bleeding arm over his chest and his entire body feeling like it was being crushed and burned at the same time. But just as things seemed most grim, there was a bright flicker of fire just at the edges of Harry's sight. Looking towards it Harry felt slightly relieved to find Fawkes swooping forward, yet he was puzzled when the bird itself was the same ghostly blue as the rest around him, but there was fire behind it._

 _As the bird landed on his arm and shed its tears, the flames that had come in behind it kept going, sweeping right through the ghostly image of a younger tom, who obviously hadn't expected such a thing himself. The moment those flames touched the image it was set in flames and devoured whole, said image flailing and hissing and shouting in agony before vanishing._

 _In the final burst of the flames, a moment after they vanished there stood a man. Clad in a black leather coat that had no sleeves and a deep red, almost crimson in shade, lining on the inside. Beneath the ajcket was worn a simple shirt and trousers, both fitting his physique admirably, but most notable of the being were his eyes, face and hair._

 _The hair at the sides of his head were braided into three braids on either side, with different jewels braided in there. The middle portion was left free, cut slightly and held standing up like a Mohawk of sorts. The hair at the back of the head, as well as the braids from the sides were united into a long braid that reached down to the back of the mans knees, which was quite a feed considering that the man stood ridiculously tall._

 _It was only at the sight of the beings eyes that something in the further recesses of Harry's mind clicked. Those golden orbs brought back a vivid memory of earlier, one that momentarily swept away the nightmare to surround the scenery with the sight of the mighty red dragon._

 _Deimos scanned his surroundings for a moment after he had manifested fully. The place felt familiar yet wrong at the same time as was to be expected really. He had been making his way from his hoard of treasure when he had a chill run through his entire being._

 _It was the kind of a chill that had nothing at all to do with nature, it was the kind you felt when someone close to you was in danger clouding all other thought but to protect them. That need was what drove Deimos to dive down into the thick of a forest below and shifting his form to better hide while he dealt with the issue. Why would a being as colossal as Deimos need to hide when he slept? Simply because he was vulnerable then, someone could get near and find a way to off with him. A risk best not taken._

 _Following the faint echo to it's source far away. Through the veil that separated the different dimensions from one another. While normally such a thing was not possible, the fact that Deimos had given his horn to the boy now held the connection open for them to use to familiarize with one another. Yet it also served to support the other like now as Deimos sent a part of himself, as much as the wavering connection could handle._

 _Deimos set his gaze upon Harry taking in his curled position, and immediately the dragon could feel a cold ache settle in his chest._

 _"_ _Hush now mehn Looveyd, rest easy lend these horrors not a second of your time." Deimos murmured softly while he began advancing towards the huddled figure. Occasionally flicking his hands left and right shattering the ghostly images that floated about with a burst of fire, slowly driving them away from tormenting Harry._

 _Harry's only response to the dragons words was to simply curl-up tighter while still holding his ears. Yet his eyes remained open and watching the dragon advance and flicking fire this way and that to chase away the memories. The way the flashes of fire danced over Deimos'figure made the man look like some form of a vengeful angel, yet something about the man assured Harry of the fact that he, himself was in no real danger there._

 _With a last flick of his hand Deimos sent the ghostly image flying away to vanish in the darkness, leaving the two alone with only the faint echo of the memories ringing in their ears. Slowly Deimos brought himself gown to crouch nearby, resting his arms over his knees in a casual pose while a smile made itself present on the mans face._

 _With each step that Deimos came closer Harry felt more secure. With each flick of the mans hand Harry could feel his sanity and mental control returning. With each banished nightmare Harry could feel his scar throbbing, and not in a nice way either._

 _"_ _That's it Harry...calm down...you are in control in here." Deimos crooned softly. While his voice remained calm and gentle, his brows did furrow in worry._

 _Where Harry's entire being was made of blue mist, very much like a ghost, there was one thing that caused worry to flare within the dragon anew. The lightning bolt scar that marred Harry's forehead seemed to ooze ink, while something seemed to stir beneath it._

 _At Harry's whine of discomfort Deimos reached his right hand out to soothe only to find himself air-borne all of a sudden as something lashed out at him, but all of that was irrelevant as the most heart-wrenching of sounds echoed in the dragons ears. The pained shriek of his looveyd echoing in the endless darkness as something tore out of him._

 _Deimos spun in the air for a while before thudding onto the ground, rolling along it like a rag-doll. Sprawled there without moving a muscle the dragon waited, he listened and felt to his surroundings._

 _There had been a ripple that shook the entire dream-realm when whatever it was that had come from the scar had made itself known. The very air felt heavy with the sort of maliciousness no-one, especially an eleven year-old should ever carry._

 _em"This host is MINE, begone outsider."/em A cold, gravely voice demanded from all around them, yet focused near Harry._

 _Deimos pushed himself up, taking his time to swipe himself clean of imaginary dust and to straighten his clothes before looking at the new obstacle._

 _Harry laid motionless on his back on the ground, with his eyes hazed over as they looked up at the thing above. There above Harry floated a shapeless mass of black tendrils that emitted a sickly green mist. They slithered and squirmed over one another in an endless cycle, occasionally revealing a fleshy thing amidst the writhing mass._

 _"_ _Yours? I think not, you're here uninvited, a parasite feeding off of the pure and the innocent." Deimos said, his voice carrying his annoyance in an added rumble. Like the snarl of a large beast when disturbed._

 _em"Pure...innocent? A leech? Do you not know a Dark Lord when you see one."/em The writhing mass mocked while it took a more solid form of a face and head...one without a nose and an eery red glow for eyes._

 _"_ _Yes, quite so." Deimos replied in that same, stony tone of voice from before, rumbling deeply at the end._

 _Before the entity could utter another word Deimos lift his gaze from Harry. The moment those anger filled eyes of the dragon landed on the source of his anger, flames erupted around the dragon, the darkness rippling again._

 _"_ _I am so sorry mehn Looveyd, I will do my best to deal with this filth as swiftly as possible." Deimos whispered softly, unsure whether or not Harry could hear him._

 _No longer than had those words parted from the dragons lips and there was a burst of that sickly green wisp headed straight towards the arrogant being. The only thing that Deimos did was turn his head towards it, while raising his left hand in a casual sweeping gesture._

 _Once the wisp-like surge hit the back of the dragon's hand a loud booming sound was heard mere moments before the wisp was sent careening elsewhere to disperse harmlessly. Stranding straight at his full height with his head tilted back in challenge Deimos waited for the parasite to act again._

 _With a frustrated snarl the red of the beings eyes flashed and several wisps of shrieking, green energy were sent forward only to be flicked aside as before. While Deimos had no real difficulty deflecting the bolts of energy, he did feel them growing in power with each and every one and a quick glance down to his looveyd revealed why._

 _Through the thin sliver of black energy connected to Harry's forehead Deimos watched his looveyd's energy slowly sapping away to feed the parasite. With each drainage the visage of Harry grew far more transparent and the dream-world shook and cracked, all thing that were alarming enough._

 _Stepping aside from another bolt of energy Deimos moved his hands, like a weave would. Bright red energy followed the trailing hands as the dragon murmured words unheard of by neither of the beings in the realm with him._

 _"_ _Du súdavar freohr, Du namar aorboda" The dragon's baritone voice echoed in the solitude. The red energy swirling and hissing as it moved ever faster. Like a dancer on stage Deimos stepped and slid to avoid being hit by the blasts. The ones that were well aimed were met by the seal hanging at the end of the dragons braid._

 _With a final flick of his hands Deimos halted entirely and sent the gathered energy out. The glowing red chains of magic snapped and cracked as they slithered through the air to begin wrapping around the dark mass. Where-ever a green wisp touched the chains they broke, only to begin growing again like the head of a hydra, cut one and two will replace it._

 _Try as it might the black mass could do nothing to stop the red chains from circling it fully, breaking away the darkness that had accumulated wherever the chains touched it. Little by little the black mass shrunk away, devoured by the burning chains as they squeezed and banished the unwanted material until only the core of the curse remained. With a loud crack the chains froze and the link between Harry and the curse was broken. Slowly the chains began morphing into a crystalline surface around the root of the issue._

 _Deimos watched on as the spell finished it's task, his golden eyes remaining locked on the fleshy, shapeless thing within the cocoon. Stepping in close Deimos grouched by his looveyd, taking a moment to look at the nearly blackened image feeling his chest almost crashing in on itself from grief at the sight._

 _"_ _I know not what you are, and while I lack the power to properly deal with you now you should know this...I will find you...and I will destroy every last particle of you and your kind." Deimos snarled low in his throat as he took the crystal, holding it between his index finger and thumb for a while before conjuring flames to wrap around the crystal, forming a sort of a miniature sun around around it before Deimos would cast it aside._

 _Without missing a beat Deimos knelt by the weary looking visage that lay huddled on the ground, his features adorning a look of sadness at the sight. Carefully Deimos reached out with one hand towards Harry's shoulder, while the other slid to the other side to gently grasp the boys waist. Despite the ghostly visage Deimos was able to slide the partially conscious boy over to his lap to be cradled tight._

 _"_ _I'm sorry little one...I should of acted sooner." Deimos murmured quietly while he held the most precious of beings to him as close as he could without crushing him._

 _Whether or not Harry heard or understood anything said to him, he did respond to the sad tone of voice, the gentle warmth radiating from all around him by turning slightly to get more contact with it. The comfort that came with the warmth and quiet murmurs of a soothing voice were a blessing after the sort of dreams he had before, so Harry wasn't about to waste the opportunity especially since the coldness that had taken a hold of him was slowly ebbing away._

 _"_ _The fuel of my fire...the light of my life...my weakness, my everything, draw on my energy to replenish your own and never forget that I will be here...always within reach." Deimos said after a while, his voice a touch happier, lighter now that he had felt the bundle in his arms curl and press closer._

 _Bringing himself lower still Deimos closed his eyes and brought his lips against Harry's forehead, right on the spot where the corruption had clawed out from. From the contact Deimos poured forward the remains of the power he had managed to bring along the fickle connection, letting it all pour out and into the one that meant more to him than all the treasures in the multiverse._

 _Harry felt comfortable, safe in where-ever he was at the moment. His grasp on his surroundings had gone quite blurry towards the end of the chaotic barrage of nightmares and possession attempts, yet he was aware enough to take notice of something soft and moist pressing against his forehead, right on his aching scar and that is when he was hit by the biggest rush ever that had his heart beating fast and blood rushing in such a way that all he could hear was it's flow._

 _It felt like having magma poured into your veins, yet it didn't burn only warmed. Each nerve within Harry sparked to life, making him extremely aware of where he was and how. Green eyes widened at the sight of a bare throat right there, while his hands clasped tight into the thick leather of the coat as the rest of him grew tense while the lingering effects of the drainage was chased away by the roaring fire within him._

 _When the contact against his forehead ended Harry took a closer look of the face that was brought into view, the smile on it was enough to bring out a small one to Harry's lips as well. Ignoring the fact that the man with the long braid, odd outfit and gentle features was almost fully transparent_

 _"_ _Time to awaken little one, but fear not...Nightmares won't bother you the next time you lay your head and close those beautiful eyes of yours." Deimos said while the hand he had held onto harry's shoulder slid over to run his fingers through the thick mess of ghostly hair, just wondering what it'd be like to card his fingers through it for real._

 _Harry had barely even leaned against the tickling touch at the back of his head when the source of warmth he was on suddenly vanished, leaving behind only specks of red to flutter around him. Before he could even think more of it Harry felt his entire being shake and the darkness around took on different hues of blurry light before the darkness of dreams was chased away and the world opened unto him anew._

 _When his sights came to Harry had to blink a couple of times to make sure that what he saw was real. The room he was in was all, but demolished. Bedside table was clear across the room by the door, said door had been blasted inside, odd considering how everything else seemed to have scattered outwards and away from him. Clothing that had been in the closer were now scattered about the walls, some hanging from toppled furniture and some were even hanging from the chandelier, a pair of underwear to be precise. Beyond the complete disorder of things there were slight burns to be noted dotting the walls, floor and ceiling alike._

 _Looking to his left Harry was greeted with the worried face of Aiolos, who was holding onto his shoulders firmly. From the look of things Aiolos hadn't slept well at all, which made Harry wonder exactly HOW long had he been out of it in his dream world of horrors._

 _"_ _Thank the gods you're alright..." Aiolos breathed out in relief before letting go of Harry's shoulders and sitting back onto his haunches._

 _"_ _Y-yea...just a really...really bad dream." Harry murmured quietly while bringing his hands up to rub at his eyes_

 _"_ _Do you want anything...water? Milk?...something to eat?" Aiolos inquired while looking the boy over. Harry seemed to be alright, although a while back Aiolos could of sworn he was trying to rouse a corpse, that's how bad things had gotten._

 _"_ _No...just sleep." Harry mumbled, fiddling with the edge of the corver for a while before looking over to the man who was scooting away. "Could you...stay?..just in case, please..." Harry almost pleaded, not trusting the words of a comforting dream-thing to be able to completely chase away the nightmares._

 _"_ _Of course, but in the morning I'm taking you to see Madam Jikitti, just to make sure everything is alright." Aiolos said as he climbed into the bed, clad in only a pair of thin pants and a white shirt._

 _Harry only nodded slightly, already feeling ready to pass out by the time Aiolos had managed to pull his cover over and had settled down with one arm across his own chest, the other held elevated in case Harry felt like being close._

 _While normally Harry might of shied away from such a proposition, in his drowzy state of thoughtlessness he just scooted close on his side and laid his head on the older ones shoulder. Harry felt Aiolos dropping his arm over to securely hold the boy close, and even some of the snakes slithered over to offer their own hugs and for that Harry fell asleep with a little smile tugging at the corners of his lips._

 _For a while Aiolos simply watched Harry sleep, waiting for the maelstrom to begin anew, but when it didn't come Aiolos relaxed slightly and just kept holding the boy like any parent would a child until sleep claimed him too._


End file.
